Leg and Off: Did India underbowl Washington Sundar in 1st innings of BGT 2024-25 4th Test?

Team India endured another torrid day on Day 2 of the all-important Boxing Day Test against Australia in Melbourne. After conceding a massive 474 to the hosts, they are reeling at 164/5 in response.

Among several headline-hogging moments over the first two days, the one closest to on-field tactics has been India's selection for the Melbourne outing and Rohit Sharma's captaincy. The side decided to play a second spinner in Washington Sundar by dropping their No.3 batter Shubman Gill, raising several eyebrows.

However, Sundar bowled only 15 out of India's 112.4 overs as Australia piled on their massive first-innings total.

Former head coach Ravi Shastri lashed out at India's lack of trust in Sundar at lunch on Day 2. He said on Star Sports:

"India ran out of ideas. Bowling was pretty ordinary. Spin wasn't used as much as it should have. It took 40 overs for Sundar to bowl. Why did you play two spinners? What was the need if you don't trust them?" [Via Hindustan Times].

While Australia isn't always the place for spinners to thrive, India's position in the Melbourne encounter begs the question of whether Sundar was under-bowled during Australia's innings.

On that note, let us deep dive into the several key factors to figure out if Washington Sundar was under-bowled in the first innings of the Boxing Day Test.

#1 Recent and overall history at the venue

Washington Sundar's Australian counterpart Nathan Lyon has enjoyed great success at Melbourne [Credit: Getty]

Melbourne is among the few Test venues in Australia conducive to spinners operating for extended bowling spells. It is no coincidence that three of the top five Test wicket-takers at the venue are spinners.

While speedster Dennis Lillee leads the pack with 82 wickets in Melbourne, former leg-spinner Shane Warne is second with 56 scalps at an average of under 23 in 11 outings. Further enhancing Sundar's case is the fact that No.3 and 5 on the list are two off-spinners - Hugh Trumble and Nathan Lyon with 46 and 45 wickets in Tests at the venue.

Yet, recent history shows mixed results for spinners in Melbourne with Lyon enjoying some success in the last three Tests at the venue but other visiting spinners like Keshav Maharaj and Jack Leach largely struggling.

However, the deciding factor in favor of Sundar is India's last two Test outings in Melbourne - both wins in 2018 and 2020. His predecessor Ravichandran Ashwin was the star in their 2020 win, producing figures of 5/106 in 61.1 overs.

Beyond the wickets, Ashwin bowling 24 of the 72 overs in the first innings and another 37 in the second is evidence of how effective spinners, especially off-spinners have been in Melbourne.

Even Ravindra Jadeja picked up three crucial wickets in that outing and also bagged four in India's 2018 win at Melbourne with an incredible 57 overs of bowling in the latter.

Verdict: Overall, recent and India's history at MCG makes it a no-brainer that Sundar was under-bowled.

#2 Current form and Sundar's performances in Australia

Australia v India - Men's 1st Test Match: Day 4 - Source: Getty

Washington Sundar has been India's best bowler after Jasprit Bumrah and their best spinner over the past two-Test series. The 25-year-old picked up 16 wickets at an average of 14.12 in two Tests at home against New Zealand and was one of the few bright spots in India's embarrassing series whitewash.

Sundar also performed admirably on a pace-friendly Perth track in the first Test of the series with match figures of 2/49 in 17 overs. The one other Test the off-spinner has played in Australia was the famous Brisbane outing in 2021.

Incidentally, Sundar bowled the most among all Indian bowlers in the first innings of that contest, producing excellent figures of 3/89 in 31 overs. He bowled another 18 overs in the second innings for a wicket as India pulled off a thrilling three-wicket win.

Considering Sundar averaged almost 17 overs in his previous two Tests on the most pace-friendly tracks in Australia in Brisbane and Perth, his bowling only 15 overs when India bowled over 122 in the ongoing Melbourne encounter definitely falls in the 'under-bowled' category.

Verdict: Sundar's form and performances in Australia should have been enough for him to bowl much more than 15 out of 122 overs.

#3 Selection rationale and match circumstances

The other Indian bowlers went for plenty and still bowled way more than Sundar at the MCG [Credit: Getty]

Team India made the massive call to drop one of their few in-form batters this year in Shubman Gill to bring a second spinner in Washington Sundar into the playing XI for the Melbourne Test. Having made such a bold call, the timing of his arrival to bowl was appalling, to say the least.

Despite Australia coasting at 171/2 in 52 overs, the Tamil Nadu off-spinner had not bowled a single delivery until that point. Sundar then bowled one over before tea and returned five overs later in the 60th over for just his second.

It took him only four overs to remove a well-set Marnus Labuschagne and yet he bowled only nine more overs for the rest of the innings. With the pacers, especially Mohammed Siraj, bleeding runs, Sundar could have easily controlled the flow of runs if nothing else.

At 15 overs, Sundar was the only specialist bowler to bowl under 20 despite boasting the best economy rate of 3.26. For context, Siraj bowled 23 overs - eight more than Sundar even while traveling at an economy of 5.30 and going wicketless.

The timing of his arrival to bowl on Days 1 and 2 and the overall under-utilization even as the other bowlers except Bumrah lacked any penetration or control were bizarre tactics from the Indian skipper Rohit Sharma.

Verdict: Bowling the least out of the five specialist bowlers despite exhibiting the best control massively contradicts the rationale behind Sundar's selection.

Conclusion

It is hard to find any reason - history, form, match circumstances, or selection rationale supporting Washington Sundar bowling only 15 overs in India's first innings of almost 123 overs. Beyond the number of overs, his arrival to bowl on each of the first two days even as Australia were firing on all cylinders clearly showcased questionable tactics and a lack of trust in the off-spinner.

Final Verdict: Washington Sundar was undeniably underbowled in Australia's first innings of the ongoing Melbourne Test.