India vs South Africa – It was a good wicket… there were runs to be made, says Washington

With the series on the line, India finds itself in deep trouble after another disappointing batting performance against South Africa here on Monday. Having been bowled out for 201, all-rounder Washington Sundar admitted there were no demons in the pitch and felt there were runs to be made.

“It was a very good wicket and a true wicket. You don’t often get to bat on such tracks, especially in India. If you spend time, there are runs to be made. You can’t really contain runs for a very long period of time,” said Washington, who was the second-highest scorer (48).

Batters like Dhruv Jurel and Rishabh Pant perished to expansive shots when the situation needed a calmer approach. When asked if there were prior plans to be aggressive and score at a brisk pace, Washington said there were no such targets.

“In a five-day match, I don’t think you have to worry about run rate, especially against a quality bowling attack. If anything, we would have probably planned for tomorrow (to up the rate).”

“If we were in a scenario where we had lost only four to five wickets today, then we could have planned for tomorrow as we bat quite deep. Going in, I don’t think there were any plans as to how much we needed to get today,” he said.

But the 26-year-old defended the shot selection of the batters. “On another day, both [Pant and Jurel’s] shots would have gone into the stands, and we would have appreciated and clapped. That’s how it is”.

Sometimes you just have to back their plans and their skill sets as well, given the fact that they have shown a lot of proof and evidence in the past. Obviously, execution didn’t go the way we wanted,” said Washington.