India all-rounder Washington Sundar feels the must-win third and final ODI against Sri Lanka will provide them with a big opportunity to counter the spin threat in challenging conditions and hold the team in good stead ahead of next year’s Champions Trophy.
The Indian team is staring at its first bilateral ODI series defeat against the Islanders in 27 years after losing the second ODI by 32 runs, thanks to the lacklustre performance of the batters, who failed to tackle the Lankan spin attack.
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“It is an opportunity for us to go out there and put our hands up and win those critical situations,” Sundar told reporters on the eve of the match. “Obviously with the big tournaments coming up, we will be in similar situations and it will be important to find ways as to what we can do to win those critical situations, especially in similar conditions against quality spin attack.
“I think whatever we have done in this series so far, we will take that as a learning, obviously try and move ahead and win the game tomorrow in all aspects of the game.”
“We are quality players of spin, a matter of finding a way”
Sundar also came out in defence of the batters, who looked shoddy against the spinners in the series so far.
“We are quality players of spin. We’ve always played in these kinds of wickets, even at home, in Test matches, and in different formats. Even domestic cricket, we play a lot of games in such wickets,” he said.
“And we know a lot of our players have done well, especially in the middle order, batting against spin. So it’s just a matter of finding a way, their self and trying to get the job done.
“Everyone knows it’s quite a challenging wicket. The Indian team has always put its hands up, especially when the challenge arises. And that’s when we’ve been very good, both with bat and ball, and we’ve come out flying colours out of the challenging situations,” he said.
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“And that’s the definition of the Indian cricket team over the last many years. So I think it’s the same, it’s been the same scenario in this series as well. It’s just about finding a way individually and getting the job done.”
The 24-year-old said the team has tried to make tactical changes after getting inputs from new head coach Gautam Gambhir.
“There has been a lot of input from him (Gambhir). He is a high-quality player of spin. We have always seen him putting up great performance, especially in such wickets against quality spin.
“That is one of the reasons we came out here today to practice and try and find a way and try and do those small little changes tactically and be prepared and ready for tomorrow’s game and be really on top of our game in all aspects,” Sundar said.
Sundar, who had produced a match-winning performance in Pallekele to help India claim the third T20I in a dramatic Super Over, said he wants to make the most of the opportunities that come his way.
“It’s important for me to do well with the bat and contribute to team success and mainly win games, especially with the bat whenever I get an opportunity.
“I feel like I had two good opportunities in this series already and yes, really looking forward to getting the job done for the team, especially with the bat, especially when we’re chasing and the chips are down,” he said.
Talking about his game, Sundar said he made a few changes to his bowling but it is more about finding a good rhythm.
“I am someone who works hard and tries to find ways to be successful and to be an asset to the team.
“That way when I was thinking about my bowling, I had to do certain things, slightly different, not huge changes, but just to add a couple of more things and do certain things more often and more efficiently,” he said.
“I mean it’s more to do with the rhythm and a little about technicalities. I feel that when I get certain things right with my rhythm and with my techniques, I feel a lot of things come out well for me, especially out of my hands.”
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