Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif has strongly questioned Washington Sundar’s effectiveness as a bowling all-rounder ahead of the third ODI against South Africa. He stated that Sundar has not shown the spin quality expected at the international level, particularly in pressure situations.
“Not even half of Ashwin” – Kaif’s sharp comparison
Kaif compared Sundar to Indian spin great Ravichandran Ashwin and did not hold back his criticism, saying Sundar is “not even half of Ashwin if we talk about skills as a spinner.” “The management can answer what Washington’s role is. He is not even half of Ashwin if we talk about skills as a spinner. Even in Tests and ODIs, under different captains, not one but all of them have not given him full overs. When the game is tight, they go to Jadeja and Kuldeep. There is no trust that he can pick wickets at any stage, like how it is with Kuldeep. He will have to work a lot on his bowling,” Mohammad Kaif said on his YouTube channel.
Captains prefer Jadeja and Kuldeep in tight situations
Kaif stressed that in tense match situations, skippers tend to rely on Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja rather than Sundar. He suggested that if the management truly trusted Sundar, he would have been given more responsibility with the ball across formats like ODIs and Tests.
Undefined role harming Sundar’s development
The former India batter also criticized the team for burdening Sundar with dual expectations: “First of all, his wicket-taking ability is less, and now you want Sundar to bat and are just putting more pressure on him. It is like he is neither a bowler nor a batter. Make him do one thing and give him a clear role. He can play the role of Axar in batting in the middle. That is fine. But his main role is bowling. Batting is a bonus. But if his bowling gets bad, which is evident as they are not giving overs, he will go further behind in bowling. He will have to work on his skills and variations as a bowler. If he wants to play longer for India, he has to improve his bowling,” he added.
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