Chennai: Washington Sundar was originally selected in the Indian team only for the T20 International series against Australia. However, he was asked to stay back with the squad after the limited-overs series as a nets bowler.
Not even in his wildest dreams did Sundar think that he would be making his Test debut in the fourth and final match of the series at the Gabba in Brisbane.
But there was a problem. He only had coloured pads, which Indian players wore in the ODIs and T20 Internationals.
So, he had to go shopping for white batting pads for his debut Test match after being drafted into the playing XI in place of injured spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
Indian team fielding coach R Sridhar revealed the Indian team’s support staff struggled to find him a pair of pads that would fit him perfectly.
“We tried many but they were too small for the tall Sundar. We tried getting from the Aussies, but due to COVID, they could not spare their pads. Finally, we had to go to a shop after the Test match had started,’’ Sridhar was quoted as saying by Telangana Today.
Sundar not only made an unexpected Test debut, he made a strong impact as well and was one of the architects of India’s history-creating three-wicket victory which handed the depleted touring team a 2-1 series win.
Sundar bagged four wickets in the match, including those of Aussie heavyweights David Warner and Steve Smith, and made a solid 62 in the first innings during a match-turning seventh-wicket century partnership with Shardul Thakur.
