Washington Sundar added to India’s squad for remaining two Tests vs New Zealand

Washington Sundar has been added to India’s squad for the remaining two Tests against New Zealand.

The all-rounder will link up with the squad ahead of the upcoming second Test against the Kiwis in Pune.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) made the announcement on Sunday evening, just hours after Rohit Sharma and co, stumbled to an eight-wicket loss against the Kiwis in the first Test at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

Sundar, has made his way into the Indian Test squad, after a long time.

It needs to be seen whether the left-handed batter manages to get a game as the squad already has Axar Patel, who has been warming the bench off late.

Axar Patel and Washington Sundar are both all-rounders, and it needs to be seen whether any one of them, gets a game at Pune.

India’s updated squad is now as follows: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Akash Deep, Washington Sundar.

Rachin Ravindra and Wil Young made light work of the target on the final day of the opening Test as they chased down 107 inside 28 overs on Day 5. Will Young and Rachin, remained unbeaten on 45 and 39, respectively.

The duo formed an unbeaten stand of 72 runs for the third wicket.

This is now New Zealand’s first Test win in India after a gap of 36 years.

They had last won a Test in India in 1988, under the leadership of John Wright.

After the loss against New Zealand, Rohit Sharma said that being bundled out for 46, won’t define his team, as it was a matter of three bad hours, costing his side.

“I am not going to look too much into this Test match honestly because those three hours are not going to dictate what this team is.

You know, because it will be unfair to think about those three hours and start judging players and talk slightly differently,” said Rohit at the post-match press conference.

It’s important to keep a consistent message in the group.

We really found a way to come back into this game with the bat in the second innings. Of course, we lost a Test match.

But I feel a lot of good things have happened in this game,” he added.

Speaking further about the loss, Rohit said, “We have made small mistakes in this game and we are suffering the consequences.

But that doesn’t mean that everything is over. We have lost such matches before and we have made a comeback after that.

So, we will try not to think too much about this Test.”

“Now, it’s just about keeping a very calm atmosphere, and not to send panic messages. It’s important that we stay strong and try and see how we can nail that second game,” he added.