Washington Sundar on Sunday (February 6) made a stunning comeback to the Indian team after an injury as he played a key role in the hosts’ emphatic six-wicket victory over West Indies in the first ODI at Ahmedabad.

Sundar returned with the figures of 3/30 in his 9 overs to help India bundle out the visitors for a paltry 176 in 43.5 overs. Later on, Rohit Sharma and his men chased down the target with 122 balls to spare.

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Speaking after the game, Sundar reflected on his painful five months away from the game, revealing that he used the time off to get better as a cricketer as that was all he could control.

“There were a lot of challenges but I just wanted to do what I could do to improve myself as a cricketer. That’s all that’s in my control and I was only focussing on that,” he said at the post-match press conference.

While he was recovering from the finger injury, Sundar had to miss the T20 World Cup in UAE and then COVID-19 played spoilsport when he was about to board the flight to South Africa.

“Yes, there will always be challenges, that’s something that I have realised especially in the last couple of years.

“But what matters is how I push myself, keep getting better at the aspects that I want to and keep improving myself. I’ve tried to focus on it,” the off-spinner elaborated.

Washington Sundar is now focusing on the upcoming two ICC events – T20 World Cup later this year and the ODI World Cup in 2023.

“It was very very disappointing to have lost out on a chance to play the World Cup. But yes, there are two World Cups in the next 15-16 months, so that should be my focus.”

Now that he is back, Sundar knows that more games that he plays, better and sharper he will become.

“More than anything, I have always wanted to be in the present and keep getting better as a cricketer.

“If I do that, there would be a lot of opportunities and also the fact that I would be able to perform a lot better. I have loved to stay in the present and enjoy the game,” he added.

Talking about his bowling in the ODI series opener, Washington said: “I was just bowling to my strength and of course we had some plans for their batsmen. We just wanted to execute the plans and it was heartening to get off. I am happy that I could bowl to my strengths.”

He bowled early in the power-play and acknowledged that the experience of Vijay Hazare Trophy helped him.

“That’s something I have been doing for the last few years. I enjoy bowling in the Powerplay now. Even the fact that I played Vijay Hazare, that helped me bowl in different situations of the game.

“Even there, I bowled a lot with the new ball. All those experiences have definitely helped,” he concluded.

(With PTI inputs)