Former Indian batter Subramaniam Badrinath believes Washington Sundar should play Test cricket regularly and he can also be considered for ODI. However, Badrinath reckons the all-rounder should not be part of the T20I team.
Meanwhile, Sundar has been backed in all three formats of the game by head coach Gautam Gambhir. The all-rounder suffered a hamstring injury in the second ODI against England and was ruled out of the upcoming two-match Test series against Sri Lanka.
Saransh Jain received his maiden Test call-up after Sundar’s injury.
“Clarity brings confidence. The more there is clarity, the more there will be confidence. Let Sundar play only Test cricket. Maybe he can play ODI a bit if they want. But if he plays T20 also, he will keep getting injured. Age is not an issue. But his fitness and body is not able to compensate for everything. Same with Bumrah, probably better management and monitoring could have been done,” Badrinath said in a video on his YouTube channel.
Meanwhile, Indian batters have struggled to get going in the spin-friendly conditions. The Indian has lost Test series against South Africa and New Zealand despite playing at home. Badrinath recalled that former Indian batters used to play in domestic circuit earlier but it is not the case anymore.
“It is directly related to playing first-class cricket. I always say this. The likes of Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag, even Gautam Gambhir, all of these guys played Duleep Trophy, Irani Trophy, and for their states before coming to play for India. First-class cricket is a testing ground. I know a lot of players who would come and play first-class cricket to counter spin. Even two hours or three hours, its not about the runs, its about the confidence. Indian cricketers now do not play first-class at all and it shows a clear decline,” he said.
Badirnath urged the current crop of players to ply their trade in first-class cricket despite hectic scheduling.
“I know they are playing a lot of cricket and don’t have enough energy for first-class cricket, but you need to make time. You have nine Tests before the WTC final. It’s okay if you take a break from some T20 series, come and play first-class cricket or the Duleep Trophy. All players want to play all formats, that time is gone. You need to get specialisation and work on specific skills,” Badrinath added.
India will face Sri Lanka in the first Test at Galle from August 15.
