India should drop Arshdeep and bring in Washington Sundar vs Pakistan: Sunil Gavaskar

Legendary India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has suggested bringing in Washington Sundar for the all-important fixture against Pakistan on Sunday, 15 February at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. Sundar has not featured in the first two matches of the tournament so far, as India opted for Varun Chakravarthy and Axar Patel as the two spinners in the side.

However, with the R Premadasa Stadium expected to offer significant assistance to spinners, Gavaskar has suggested going in with an extra spinner in the line-up by bringing in Washington Sundar in place of Arshdeep Singh. The left-arm seamer has featured in both matches so far and has taken three wickets.

“I would also say that if the pitch is assisting spin, I would prefer the Indian team to open the bowling with Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah, and include Washington Sundar in the XI. Washington Sundar can bowl spin and is also a left-handed batter who can score runs coming in at number eight. So I would like the team management to assess the pitch and conditions carefully before finalising the playing XI,” Gavaskar said on India Today’s sister channel Aaj Tak.

Will Usman Tariq trouble India?

The former batter also downplayed the threat of Pakistan’s spin attack, mentioning that India have played against Abrar Ahmed before, while Pakistan’s batters were not troubled by Usman Tariq’s unique action during practice sessions.

“The Indian team has played against Abrar in previous matches, so they did not face too many difficulties against him. Usman Tariq is new, and I just heard that even the Pakistani batsmen who were playing did not seem to face much trouble. I also do not think there will be too many issues. However, if the ball starts turning sharply, then it can trouble any batter,” he added.

Tariq’s unusual bowling action has become the talk of the cricketing fraternity, with the off-spinner possessing a notably wider release point than most bowlers. Ahead of the crucial fixture, India batter Ishan Kishan has already shared his thoughts on facing the mystery tweaker, stating that the Indian batters would simply focus on the ball and look to hit it if it comes into their slot.

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