IND vs NZ | Washington Sundar must adapt to bowl in middle overs, feels Zaheer Khan
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Zaheer Khan feels that Washington Sundar must adapt to bowl in the middle overs, and not only in the powerplay, so as to seal a place in the competitive Indian side. Zaheer pointed out that the youngster relies on the hardness and bounce of the new ball, a reason why powerplay is his comfort zone.
Young off-spinner Washington Sundar, who finally got a game in New Zealand after 3 fixtures, had a horrid time on the field, failing with both bat and ball, as the match yet again went to a super over. Coming into bat midway into the game, Sundar was dismissed for a duck before giving off 24 runs in the only two overs he bowled.
It was a rare sight when India’s specialist powerplay bowler Sundar went for runs and former India quick Zaheer Khan pointed out how the Tamil Nadu lad, who did not bowl in the powerplay today, thrives on bowling in the first six overs, calling the phase of play the 20-year-old's 'comfort zone'.Â
“I think his comfort zone lies there. He likes bowling with the new ball, his strength has been the bounce and variation of pace which he does with the ball. So that’s something which has been his strength and he feels more comfortable there. He is an offspinner but he doesn’t rely much on turn, he is a tall guy with a nice high arm action and he looks to utilise that bounce when the ball is nice and hard,” the 41-year-old told Cricbuzz Live.
Zaheer, who is renowned as the swing king of India, believes that Sundar must adapt to bowl in the middle overs so as to hang on to his place in the side. He conceded that Sundar must follow the footsteps of Deepak Chahar, who evolved from being a new ball bowler to an all-round pacer who can bowl at any phase of the match.
“So that’s one area where Sundar will have to adjust and adapt. We have seen that with Deepak Chahar also,he is someone who has been predominantly a new ball bowler but he has figured out a way now which enables him to be versatile enough to bowl in any kind of scenario or situation.”
Zaheer also suggested change in angles to Sundar for the youngster to flourish outside the powerplay overs.
“So for Sundar it’s just that learning curve where he needs to adapt in terms of maybe finding the right field placement which he can have or may be the angles which he can change in terms of his approach,” Zaheer signed off.
