"Not buying narrative": Irfan Pathan doesn't see Sundar's inclusion as "negative" move from India management

New Delhi [India], July 2 (ANI): Former all-rounder Irfan Pathan is not willing to buy the narrative that Washington Sundar is a "negative move" from Indian management but an attempt to fix the lack of lower-order resistance that has been persisting for a while for the second Test against England at Edgbaston on Wednesday.

The beleaguered Indian side, bereft of its pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, shifted its focus towards Sundar to add another layer of batting depth after enduring a shambolic lower-end collapse in the series opener at Headingley.

While questions surrounding Sundar's inclusion focus on the Indian management, Pathan sees the positive aspects that the 25-year-old brings, especially with his eye-catching skill set at the bat.

"I'm not buying the narrative that playing Washington Sundar is a negative move. It's actually an attempt to fix what's been missing for a while -- lower-order resistance. And let's not forget, he will contribute with the ball too. Specially vs English batters," Pathan wrote on X.

India's tail-end's limited batting capacity has been the team's Achilles heel for quite some time. The latest evidence of India's unimpressive show from the bottom-order unfolded in the opening Test in Leeds.

In the first innings, India positioned itself in a place of dominance with 430/3 on the board. However, England made inroads and forced India to pack their bags on 471. A similar situation unfolded in the second innings when tourists gave away their last six wickets for a mere 31 runs to settle for 364.

India's batting calamity futher echoed the difference between the top five batters and the bottom six. India's first half was the primary driving force and accumulated 721 runs, courtesy of five centuries. At the same time, the rest could only muster 65 runs, adding to India's agony.

India captain Shubman Gill provided a detailed insight into the mindset behind India's approach and the host of changes his side has made for the contest during the toss.

"No Bumrah. Just to manage his workload. We did get a good break, and this is an important match for us. But the third Test being at Lord's, we think there'll be more in that pitch, so we'll use him there. We were tempted to play Kuldeep, but looking at the last match, our lower order didn't do well, so we decided to add some depth to the batting," Gil said during the time of the toss.

India (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Shubman Gill(c), Rishabh Pant(w), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna. (ANI)

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