Washington Sundar reveals ‘discussions’ with Rohit, Gambhir during stand with Nitish Reddy: ‘They keep telling us…’

Team India made a commendable fightback on Day 3 of the Boxing Day Test against Australia, with youngsters Nitish Kumar Reddy (105*) and Washington Sundar (50) rising to the occasion in Melbourne. After India began the day at 164/5, the side lost two quick wickets with Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja failing to capitalise on the starts; however, the duo of Reddy and Sundar not only helped India avoid the follow-on, but also reduced the first-innings margin, as India ended the day at 358/9, trailing by 116 runs.

Following the end of the day’s play, Washington Sundar revealed the “discussions” in the dressing room throughout the partnership, insisting that both, captain Rohit Sharma and coach Gautam Gambhir kept telling the duo to continue the fight in the middle.

“One thing with Rohit bhai and Gauti bhai is that they keep telling us to fight no matter what. It’s been instilled in us, no matter what situation we are in. Playing for India, especially at a ground like MCG on a big occasion against Australia, we will do no matter what it takes for us to be in a good position,” Sundar said.

Sundar played a gritty knock in the middle, opting for a defensive approach as Nitish took care of the run-scoring for a large part of the partnership. The left-handed Sundar hit only one four en-route to his half-century, scoring 50 off 162 deliveries before being dismissed by spinner Nathan Lyon.

Sundar praises Reddy

Nitish Kumar Reddy smashed his maiden Test century during his innings at the MCG, and Sundar was all praise for the 21-year-old youngster. Reddy had made his debut in the same series during the opening Test in Perth, and currently has the most runs for India in the series (284).

Reddy has an opportunity to add to his tally on Sunday morning, as he remained unbeaten at the end of the day’s play.

“Reddy was definitely good today, very very happy for Nitish, got unbelievable hundred, this will be remembred forever,” said Sundar.