Sundar primes India for Lord’s triumph on Day five
The spinner, who laid the foundation of England’s dismissal in the second innings, believes India will clinch third Test.
Despite the late wickets on Day 4, Washington Sundar is confident of India’s chances to go 2-1 up in the ICC World Test Championship series against England.
Speaking at the end of the day's play to Sky Sports, Sundar assessed the situation of an evenly poised contest following a thrilling display of Test cricket at Lord’s.
“Definitely, India (are) winning tomorrow. Probably just after Lunch,” Sundar stated.
“Yeah, the position we're in right now, probably for one (wicket) at Stumps today would have been ideal.
“But the way we bowled, all the fast bowlers in particular, the way they came out today, kept the pressure going throughout the day, it was amazing.”
Earlier in the day, the off-spinner produced a top spell with the ball, nabbing his best-ever bowling figures in a Test outside of India, as the tourists bundled England out for 192.
Using sharp drift in his arsenal, Sundar trapped Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Ben Stokes and Shoaib Bashir to lead India’s push for a win at Lord’s.
Elaborating on India’s day out with the ball, Sundar added, “Definitely, we all did (expect the pitch to assist). Especially with the hard ball. We expected a little bit of seam movement and also a little bit of up and down as well.
“The way Siraj bowled and Akash Deep's spell to get Brook out, he was looking a little aggressive and we didn't want to give too many runs in that phase of play. But yeah, most of it turned our way.
"The way both of us bowled today was very heartening - myself and Jadeja. The plan was not to give out too many runs because the fast bowlers are always going to be in the play.”
Sundar also waxed lyrical about India's pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, and how he helped put pressure from one end to assist him with the wicket of England captain Ben Stokes.
“The fact that Bumrah was bowling from the other end definitely helped.
“The moment Bumrah came in, I knew he (Stokes) was going to do something different and in that over the first ball he went for a slog. And it all worked out well.”
At the end of Day 4, India require 135 runs to win while England need six wickets to clinch the Test and go 2-1 up in the series.