25 November,2025 08:42 AM IST | Guwahati | PTI
Washington Sundar during his 48 in Guwahati on Monday. Pic/PTI
Washington Sundar and Marco Jansen had one thing in common on Monday. Both firmly believed that Rishabh Pant's strategy was solid, but its execution faltered slightly.
India's stand-in skipper, batting on No. 7, went after Jansen, but ended up edging the short ball to the 'keeper's gloves, becoming the talking point of the entire third day.
Before that Dhruv Jurel played a needless pull-shot off the same bowler to hole out to the mid-on fielder. "On another day, the bowlers would have gone into the stands and all of us would have appreciated and clapped. That's how it is. Sometimes you just got to back their plans and their skill sets as well," Washington's answer was exactly similar to Jansen's reply to the same question.
"Given the fact that they have shown a lot of proof and evidence in the past as well, I think it's just about them backing their skill sets. Obviously, execution didn't go the way we wanted," said Sundar, who scored 48.
Asked if he was surprised with Pant's shot selection, Jansen replied: "It's not that things will always be going your way. So there are times where Pant would have hit that one fifty rows back, straight back over my head, and then we would be having a different conversation," he said.
Sundar was honest when enquired if he felt that the track was like a snake pit with Jansen suddenly making deliveries fly from length.
"It wasn't a snake pit or whatever you may call it. It was a very good wicket. It was a true wicket. Not many days you will get to bat on such tracks, especially in India. Honestly, it is a true wicket. If you spend time there, runs are there for the taking," Washington said.
Sundar even rubbished assertions that there was a hint of uneven bounce when Jansen was getting the ball to rear up.
"It wasn't uneven at all. He is obviously the tallest going around and he gets that bit of a sharp bounce off good length. We have played such bowlers quite a lot.
"Just on another day, we would have batted the same deliveries a lot better and it would have seemed like a very different scenario," he said.
While Kuldeep had termed the Barsapara track a "road", Jansen gave a divergent view, calling it a "sporting one".
"It's a good wicket to bat on. There's good pace, good bounce. If you play the short ball well, you'll score runs, and if you bowl well, you'll get wickets," he said.
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