Sunil Gavaskar, a legendary Indian cricketer, has advised bringing in Washington Sundar for the crucial T20 World Cup 2026 match against Pakistan on Sunday, February 15, at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

Sundar has not played in India's opening two matches of the tournament since Varun Chakravarthy and Axar Patel have been named the team's two spinners.

However, with the R. Premadasa Stadium set to provide major help to spinners, Gavaskar has advised adding an extra spinner to the lineup by replacing Arshdeep Singh with Washington Sundar. The left-arm seamer has played both matches and got three wickets.

"I would also say that if the pitch is assisting spin, I would prefer the Indian team to open the bowling with Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah and include Washington Sundar in the XI. Washington Sundar can bowl spin and is also a left-handed batter who can score runs coming in at number eight. So, I would like the team management to assess the pitch and conditions carefully before finalizing the playing XI," Gavaskar said on Aaj Tak.

Gavaskar was also asked about the threat that Pakistan spinner Usman Tariq poses and downplayed his bowling. He mentioned how well India has negotiated Abrar Ahmed in the past, and even Pakistani batters have not been troubled by Tariq.

"The Indian team has played against Abrar in previous matches, so they did not face too many difficulties against him. Usman Tariq is new, and I just heard that even the Pakistani batsmen who were playing did not seem to face much trouble. I also do not think there will be too many issues. However, if the ball starts turning sharply, then it can trouble any batter," he added.

Usman Tariq did well in Pakistan’s recent game against the USA, taking three wickets in their victory.