India vs England: Washington Sundar Narrowly Misses Out on Maiden Ton as India's Lower-order Collapses

India all-rounder Washington Sundar fell agonisingly short of what would have been a maiden Test century when the hosts were dismissed for 365 on Day 3 of the fourth and final Test against England on Saturday (March 6). Sundar had crafted century-stands with both Rishabh Pant and Axar Patel and while Pant went on to score a century on Day 2, there was to be no such luck for Sundar. Having played the role of the anchor as Pant took on the English bowling, Sundar stepped up the scoring rate on Day 3 and seemed to be cruising towards a maiden Test century.

However, when Axar was run-out by Joe Root it triggered a collapse. Ben Stokes removed both Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Siraj in the same over, meaning Sundar was not out on 96.

He may have missed out on a ton yet again but Sundar’s assured batting means he is likely to get many a chance in the future to shine for the Indian team.

After coming into the scene in the 2016 Under-19 World Cup, Washington Sundar began his journey of becoming a household name in cricket. Owing to his decent outing in the tournament, he was given a spot in the Tamil Nadu squad for the Ranji Trophy 2016-17.

The initial impression about the youngster was that he was a top-order batter with useful off-spinning abilities under his belt. But as his career progressed, he has been more of a bowler who can bat.

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Sundar grabbed headlines when Rising Pune Supergiant signed him as a replacement for Ravichandran Ashwin, who was ruled out of the 2017 season of the Indian Premier League.

He seemed a like-for-like change – barring the fact that he is a southpaw. He turned out to be one of the finds of the season as he weaved magic with his economical bowling.

Post that he shone in the second edition of the Tamil Nadu Premier League by being the top run-scorer along with being in the top wicket-takers list as well.

These performances paved way for a call-up to the Indian side. He made his debut in limited-overs cricket for India against Sri Lanka late in 2017.

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A Test debut seemed a long way off for a man who many had pegged as a white-ball specialist. However, an injury crisis during India’s tour to Australia saw Sundar, who was with the side as a nets bowler, get drafted into the side.

He made a half-century on debut and 4 wickets in the match as India went on to script a historic win at Brisbane. He very nearly scored his maiden ton at Chennai against England but was dismissed at 85.

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