Former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan on Saturday emphasized the importance of Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy’s partnership in helping India come to a fighting position in the Melbourne Test. The two shared 127-run partnership to help prevent follow on and keep India in contention.
“That half-a-chance came when Washington Sundar played that shot on the leg side because the ball was pitching outside the leg stump, there was a nick of the bat and Smith was there ready in the slips. Apart from that, it was completely chanceless. The biggest thing is that there has never been an instance where the number 8 and 9 batsmen in the Indian team have played over 300 deliveries; this has never happened in history,” Irfan Pathan stated, as per to Star Sports.
“This brilliant partnership is the reason that India is still alive in this Test, because if both of them had not played 300 deliveries then Australia would have been in a dominating position. We would have been talking about how Australia would be looking forward to finishing the game on the 4th day itself, but these players have changed the situation. One played with aggression and composure and the other played with patience. The combination of these two was commendable and the running between the wicket between these two was amazing. As soon as they played the delivery with a soft hand they would run, and then there were boundaries coming in consistently; they were continuously rotating the strike.”
Resuming after Tea at 326/7, Washington Sundar displayed remarkable resilience, scoring 50 off 162 balls with just one boundary. His partnership with Reddy added 127 runs before Nathan Lyon dismissed Sundar shortly after Drinks, leaving India at 348/8.
Reddy reached his century in 171 balls, becoming the third youngest Indian to score a maiden Test century in Australia, following Sachin Tendulkar and Rishabh Pant. Tendulkar achieved his first century at 18 years and 256 days in 1992, while Pant reached his at 21 years and 92 days in Sydney in 2019. Reddy, at 21 years and 216 days, joins this elite group.
Australian bowlers Pat Cummins and Scott Boland each took three wickets, with Nathan Lyon claiming two. Due to bad light and rain, early stumps were called, with India set to resume their innings on Sunday with Reddy and Mohammed Siraj (2*) at the crease. (ANI)