2nd Test: It was worth the wait for seven-star Washington Sundar

The last time Washington Sundar played a Test match was three-and-a-half years ago, against England, in Ahmedabad — where he was the third spinner and ended up with only one wicket in an innings win for the hosts. The wait has been worth it, though, as the reticent 25-year-old turned an unlikely hero on his comeback, claiming a career-best 7 for 59 that's thrown a spanner in the works for the Kiwis in Pune.

Just ponder this: In the four Tests the tall, rangy all-rounder played before Pune, he had picked up six wickets before he doubled his tally on Thursday afternoon, 24 October. Not only was this Sundar’s maiden five-wicket haul in Test cricket, but it also made history as these were the best bowling figures at the venue for the longest format.

With this, Sundar pipped the likes of Steve O’Keefe (6 for 35), Nathan Lyon from Australia and fellow Indian pacer Umesh Yadav to the record — becoming the first Indian bowler to take a fifer at this venue as well.

Here's some more for the statistically inclined fans: Sundar also joins an elite list of Indian bowlers, as he holds the fourth-best bowling figures in the history of Test matches between India and New Zealand. Legendary off-spinners S. Venkataraghavan, E.A.S. Prasanna and Ravi Ashwin sit ahead of Sundar on that list.

A tidy package of economical off-spinner and competent left-handed batter, ‘Washy’ had been initially billed as a successor to senior pro Ashwin for a while, before being classified as a white ball specialist.

With the trio of Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel sharing the spoils in the intervening period at home — a combination that keeps a spinner of Kuldeep Yadav’s calibre on the sidelines most of the time — Sundar had a long shot at best.

It finally took some out-of-the-box thinking on the part of Gautam Gambhir & Co. to draft Sundar into the squad after the humiliating defeat in the first Test.

After Tom Latham & Co. neutralised the experienced spin attack in Bengaluru, the thinking in the Indian camp was to add another spinner who could take the ball away from the tall stack of southpaws in the visitors’ squad — apart from adding muscle to the lower-order batting lineup.

The Tamil Nadu man rose to the occasion when he sent back the in-form Rachin Ravindra, Player of the Match in Bengaluru, and Tom Blundell just before tea, when the Kiwis were comfortably poised at 197 for 3.

Then it was Sundar all the way in the final session, as he ripped through the middle and lower order with a nagging length — often coming round the wicket to vary his line and create havoc with his accuracy.

A reflection of his effort was in five of his seven wickets — Ravindra, Blundell, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee and Ajaz Patel all found the stumps bowled, as Sundar finished with the best economy rate of 2.55 among the bowlers.

That haul is certainly going to boost confidence for Sundar, whom Gambhir can groom as a potential successor to Ashwin, who is certainly in the twilight of his career at 38. The Tamil Nadu boy may not be the classical off-spinner if you are looking for one, but he is a streetsmart cricketer who looks ready to serve the country in all three formats — provided he is prepped to stay in shape for the workload and manages to stay injury-free!