Washington Sundar reveals conversation with R Ashwin before retirement: 'This was his 5th Australian tour or something'

More than a week has passed since Ravichandran Ashwin made the decision to retire from international cricket, and now his potential successor in India's Test team, Washington Sundar, has revealed the details of their conversations both during and leading up to the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Ashwin, who is 38 years old, officially retired after the Gabba Test in Brisbane. Although he leaves the game with an impressive record of 765 wickets, he struggled to secure a permanent spot in India's Playing XI during overseas Tests, which likely influenced his retirement decision. Sundar, widely regarded as a talented spinner in his own right, opened up about his interactions with Ashwin. These discussions were undoubtedly significant for Sundar, as he looks to continue Ashwin's legacy in the Indian Test setup.

Ashwin was left out of the XI in India's series opener at Perth, with Sundar being preferred over him as the lone spinner. In Adelaide, Ashwin replaced Sundar, which, as later revealed, was on Rohit's insistence. Ashwin again lost his place in Brisbane, this time Ravindra Jadeja playing ahead of him at the Gabba, thus summing up a musical chair of sorts.

"Preparation is always there, no matter if I am playing the game or when I don't know whether I will play. Preparation is there for us to do every day. It's like bread and butter for us. Obviously, [I've] been having a lot of conversations about Ash, especially regarding the conditions in Australia. It gave me a lot of insights. He has come here multiple times. This was his 5th tour or something with the red ball. So yes, we spoke a lot even before coming into this tour. Definitely, having someone of his calibre and experience to share a lot of knowledge and information about Australia – a big tour – certainly helped me," Sundar said during India's Day 2 press conference at the MCG on Friday.

Sundar was back in India's Playing XI for the Boxing Day Test, replacing Shubman Gill as India went ahead with two spinners in him and Ravindra Jadeja and a third all-rounder in the form of Nitish Reddy. A bold call for sure, Sundar was introduced after 20 overs but picked up 1/49, including the wicket of a set Marnus Labuschagne.

Sundar still has a lot left to do in this Test

However, Sundar would be over that his job is not done. With India five wickets down and trailing Australia by more than 300 runs, Sundar with the bat needs to click. India underwent another forgettable last half an hour on Day 2, and they need every bit of contribution from the two overnight batters – Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja – and the two all-rounders – Sundar and Reddy to come.

"Isn't it amazing that the team wants me to do really well in all three aspects of the game. That's a great opportunity for me. It will be very important to do whatever the team requires. No matter which situation of the game I get to be in, it's just about being out there, putting in the right energy and getting things done for the team," he said.

"We were in a great position to get big runs but we will still come back and continue to fight tomorrow morning. The energy is very good in the dressing room, we are all positive. There is a long time in the game as well, so there is still three days, lot of overs to play, so it will just be about us trying to fight really hard and get things done for the team."

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