India vs New Zealand: Washington Sundar takes Kiwis for a spin as per ‘God's plan'!

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Washington Sundar has taken many people for a spin, from Sunil Gavaskar to Murali Karthik and a few more experts, plus the Kiwi batters. When Washi got a call-up from the selectors for the second Test against New Zealand, even the off-spinner himself may not have believed his luck.

There were sarcastic comments from the men who wield the mike at the toss when the youngster from Chennai was picked ahead of Kuldeep Yadav. Tongues wagged and Washington gagged them. He is supposed to be a better batter than a bowler.

In one day, at the sun-bathed venue in the outskirts of Pune, closer to Lonavla, Washington burst onto the scene. His 7/59 has become part of cricket folklore, though this one day does not mean he is going to be a permanent fixture in the Test squad. Last heard, Washington Sundar was the star on the away tour to Australia more than three years ago, when he proved himself with the bat in Gabba. Since then, he has been forgotten.

Perhaps, the importance of Ranji Trophy cricket has been justified and how performances in it are getting noticed, Washington Sundar got a call-up. He had performed well against Delhi in Delhi recently. Given the way coach Gautam Gambhir asserts himself as coach, he would have picked up the phone and called chairman of selection committee, Ajit Agarkar. And the results were there to see on Thursday as the off-spinner was devastating. To say he thrived in the company of senior pro R.Ashwin would be stating the obvious.

Statisticians were scratching their heads, when was the last time two spinners from Tamil Nadu were playing a Test in tandem. Ashwin is a permanent fixture, as he went one better than Nathan Lyon in the ICC Test Championship cycle with more wickets.

But the story was how two men from Chennai, who have not really shared too much time together before this could be creative as well as destructive. Spin bowling is creative, where the bowler uses his skills, mindset and how to outfox the batters. Ashwin is a master in it.

But how did Washington Sundar do this? It is easy to say, he bowled with confidence. That would be a banal statement. To get into the rhythm like this, grab seven wickets, out of which five were clean bowled, it spoke a lot about what Washington Sundar did. One of them included the well set Rachin Ravindra, who was well-set on 65.

The way the 25-year-old spinner showed craft and stuck to line and length was admirable. His first spell may not have been incisive, but once he got his rhythm, it was something like bamboozling the batters. Later, Washington spoke of "God's plan: and how he struck it rich. What he communicated with the Almighty and executed it at the crease was bewildering.

Yes, he and Ashwin had practised at net sessions in Pune in the last few days. Washington would have picked up tips for sure. To implement it was the key. For once, Ashwin would not have minded it that he was upstaged by an unknown spinner from his own city. Still feel bad Kuldeep Yadav missed out?