‘They made me understand my game’: Sundar credits Gambhir, Nehra for batting prowess

Birmingham, July 15 (IANS) India all-rounder Washington Sundar credited head coach Gautam Gambhir and Gujarat Titans head coach Ashish Nehra for helping him develop greater clarity as a batter after playing a pivotal unbeaten half-century in India’s six-wicket win over England in the opening ODI at Edgbaston, saying their guidance has played a major role in his evolution across formats.

Sundar remained unbeaten on 52 while sharing an unbroken 102-run partnership with Axar Patel to steer India to a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. His knock marked his maiden ODI fifty and capped another important contribution with the bat after assuming varied roles for both India and in franchise cricket over the last few seasons.

Reflecting on his development as a batter, Sundar said preparation and the confidence shown in him by those around him have been instrumental.

“I try and prepare really well. As much as possible (with) preparation, I make sure I do it to the T. I give a lot of importance to preparation, and I am so grateful that people have always had faith in my skill set. Here, Gautibhai (Gautam Gambhir) always made me understand what exactly I could do with the bat, especially, and made me understand my game as well. And even Ashish Nehra in GT, he’s always made sure, like he’s helped me understand myself a lot more, be it as a person or as a cricketer on the whole. So, I’m honestly grateful for the fact that I’ve got such people around me who are actually helping me become a better cricketer every single day,” Sundar told reporters during the post-match press conference.

“I think that’s very important, especially for me. As an all-rounder, I think it’s really important to keep looking to improve every single day and understand my game and obviously play according to situations. Playing a lot of games also helps you get to be in those situations, understand what exactly you can do and you have a lot of learning as well. So, yes, I’m so grateful that I’ve got such people who have always had faith in my skill sets and also made me understand what exactly I could do in different skill sets,” he added.

Sundar has been entrusted with multiple batting responsibilities over the years, ranging from opening in first-class cricket to batting in the middle order and finishing games in white-ball formats. He said embracing those changing responsibilities has helped him become a more complete cricketer.

“Over the years, I’ve understood the fact that I need to keep improving my skill sets, which will help me whenever the situation arises. And the fact that I play different roles is exciting. Not many people get to play different roles. I get to sort of play those different roles and be in those different situations. And obviously, I try my best to help the team win.

“It’s exciting to sort of be in different situations and different phases of the game. But as I said, every single day, it’s important, especially for me, to keep improving. As I said, we play different formats in a short span of time. So, there’s hardly any change you could do between switching formats. I think, on the whole, as much as I could prepare really well, I think I’ll be ready when the situation arrives. That’s the mindset,” he stated.

India had switched directly from a T20I series into the ODI leg of the tour, but Sundar said adapting between formats is an expected part of international cricket.

“Obviously, at this level, you expect people to adapt to different formats. And it’s just a great blessing for us to be playing in different formats in such a short span of time. And obviously, you have to understand what the adjustments are and prepare accordingly. And of course, it’s a great win today and all of us are happy,” the all-rounder said.

Having helped India secure victory in Birmingham, Sundar will look to carry his confidence into the second ODI as India aim to seal the three-match series.

–IANS

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