Washington Sundar (L) and Ravichandran Ashwin (R) celebrate the dismissal of Glenn Philips on the first day of the second Test against New Zealand. AP

Washington Sundar was the standout bowler with seven wickets against India New Zealand on Thursday, but the 25-year-old said he was part of a three-pronged spin attack alongside R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja on the opening day of the tournament second test was a special experience.
After veteran spinner Ashwin did the initial damage with 3/64, Sundar raced through the Black Caps’ middle and lower order and finished the game with a career-best figures of 7/59, restricting them to 259 before India at Stumps on a 16/1 rivet reached day in Pune.

Jadeja remained wicketless on the day but prevented the tourists from building on their strong start.
“We communicated a lot. They also brought with them many qualities, skills and experience. This really helps for someone playing along with them. It definitely helped me today,” Sundar told reporters after the end of the day’s play.
“It’s special, isn’t it, to take part in a game where both of them are involved. I hope we get to play a lot more games together.”
Sundar was a late addition to the squad after India’s eight-wicket defeat in the series opener in Bengaluru and said he was happy with how things turned out.
“Right from the start of this game and my return to the Test squad, there are a lot of things that mean a lot to me and are very special,” added Washington, who replaced Kuldeep Yadav in the XI. “I am grateful. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that day.”
“Honestly, whatever happened today is a dream come true for me. Living the dream is an incredible feeling. I actually made that clear for a couple of weeks in this particular series, so I’m really, really grateful for the way it came together.”
He further explained his bowling technique and approach to challenging right-handed batsmen:
“I’m trying to work on different wrist positions and that really helped me today. Especially at tea the ball became soft and it wasn’t ideal for me to keep the bowling at a good pace. I had to vary my throws and the balls that I actually varied were the ones that got me the important wickets.
“My plan was to be precise and always hit the right areas, expecting the wicket to offer something. After lunch I varied my pace a bit more but always aimed for accuracy without giving the batsmen anything easy.”
Sundar will add additional firepower to India’s long batting line-up after scoring 152 in a recent home game and he said he was looking forward to Friday’s action.
“It will be exciting,” the Tamil Nadu player added. “Hopefully we can get a lot of runs on the board.”
“I think there will definitely be some spin for the spinners but today’s second session didn’t offer much. The humidity in the morning will help the bowlers and I feel there will be spin throughout the game,” he explained.