Sundar a misfit at the top; Decoding how India can make way for Nitish Reddy with one move

Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy - (Source: AFP)

Indian cricket is at a crucial juncture at the moment as home dominance hangs by a thread. The Men in Blue are already facing criticism for the recent Test series defeat against South Africa. Amid this, KL Rahul and his men stand on the brink of a white-ball defeat at home, as the ODI series is tied 1-1. 

The team balance has gone for a toss, and the fans are again criticising Gautam Gambhir for being a clueless combination. The anger is also directed towards the fact that India lacks a genuine finisher of the lower-middle order because of Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja, who are struggling to accelerate when it matters. 

Washington Sundar's ODI stats

Key takeaways

At present, the management is busy pushing Washington up the order and make him bat at No. 5, which is before KL Rahul. Further, if we look at Sundar's role with the bat, then he has just 365 runs in 28 innings, averaging a mere 20.27, which is underwhelming for any batter irrespective of their position. 

Sundar has just a solitary fifty with the bat and the issue lies in the management forcing him to perform with the bat instead of treating him as a bowler, who can bat. 

If we look at Sundar's numbers with the ball, then he has done decent, at least better than what he has done with the bat. Sundar has 29 wickets, with a bowling strike-rate of 33.9, but a superb economy of 4.93. 

Why Sundar's redevelopment as a bowler might help India's problem

Sundar's position at the top is problematic, because not only he is underwhelming but reserving a spot of someone more capable than him.  If we look at Sundar's career, then he has spent most of his time batting at No. 7 or No. 8.  Now, to immediately promote him in the upper middle-order won't serve any purpose.

Instead the team can actually utilise him just as a proper spinner, who can also bat and replace him with Prasidh Krishna, who is actually struggling with the ball. It will help the Men in Blue to ensure Nitish Kumar Reddy gets a place in the team and it will enhance the batting depth. 

What has happened to Prasidh Krishna?

Prasidh Krishna started off his ODI career with a bang as he picked up 19 wickets in just 11 games in 2022. However, in the past two years, Krishna has looked a pale shadow of his previous version. In last three years, the right-arm seamer has played just six games and picked up 8 wickets.

Let's look at Krishna's ODI stats in 2025

If we look at Krishna's stats, then he boasts a similar bowling strike-rate as Washington Sundar. Further, he has been leaking runs and not picking wickets at a rate that he should be.

Time for Nitish Kumar Reddy to earn well-deserved chance

Thus, it will be only wise of team India to have two spinners - Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav and go ahead with Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana as the two seamers with Nitish Kumar Reddy as the extra-bowler. 

Further, Nitish Kumar Reddy has been missing out on opportunities to accomodate Sundar at the top. Notably, Reddy has played just two ODIs for India and batted at No. 8, which is nowhere his batting position.

Thus, it is time that the star all-rounder gets a well-deserved chance up the top and Sundar demoted down the order.

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