Mohammad Kaif backs Washington Sundar’s inclusion in Champions Trophy clash against New Zealand

Former Indian batter Mohammad Kaif wants the team’s think tank to include Washington Sundar in the Champions Trophy game against New Zealand. Citing the number of left-handers as the reason in the Kiwis’ line-up, Kaif wants the management to go with an off-spinner, who can challenge the outside edge of the southpaws.

New Zealand won both of their opening matches against Pakistan and have sealed their semifinal berth along with India. While Tom Latham scored a fine century against the hosts, Rachin Ravindra scored an impressive hundred against Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, India backed the spin trio of Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, and Kuldeep Yadav in the first two games against Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Kaif wrote on X, “It’s not a bad idea to play Washington Sundar against a NZ side full of lefties – Conway, Rachin, Latham, Bracewell, Santner. They could well be our final opponent. So worth testing them against Washington.”

On the other hand, Afghanistan had stunned England by eight runs at Lahore on Wednesday. Ibrahim Zadran was awarded Player of the Match for scoring a match-winning knock of 177 runs, which helped Afghanistan post 325 runs on the board. 

However, Kaif reckons Azmatullah Omarzai should have been given the Player of the Match as he returned with impressive figures of 5-58 and also scored a crucial knock of 41 runs off 31 balls.

Kaif told News18, “My Man of the Match is Azmatullah Omarzai. He took five wickets on a pitch that had nothing for the fast bowlers. England almost won the game and he proved to be the difference in the end. Omarzai also scored runs for the team. Five wickets are more important than the runs posted by Zadran.”

India will next take on New Zealand at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai on 2nd March.