Greg Chappell's challenge for Gautam Gambhir's go-to man after England series high: 'I'll be surprised if he doesn't...'

As fans continue to soak in India's terrific narrow win over England, which helped them draw the series 2-2 for the Anderson-Tendulkar trophy, one can't help but imagine the grit and courage this young team under Shubman Gill displayed. Not many gave them a chance to win – with some doubters even certain of a 5-0 whitewash – but after 25 days of intense cricket, Gill proved he is the right man to lead India. The captain led from the front, racking up a mountain of runs – 754 to be precise – setting the perfect example for the rest of the batters to shine through. Gautam Gambhir, left, with Washington Sundar(AFP)

As Sourav Ganguly pointed out, the kind of domination that the Indian batters produced hasn't been witnessed in England in nearly two decades. As many as six different batters scored centuries, some hitting multiple and double hundreds. Barring Sai Sudharsan and Karun Nair, the entire top six contributed. Yashasvi Jaiswal grew in reputation as India's next big Test batter, while KL Rahul once again lived up to his moniker of Mr. Dependable. Rishabh Pant was back to his belligerent best, and Ravindra Jadeja's batting stocks exploded like never before. However, the one surprise package that India didn't expect to fire through was Washington Sundar.

India's head coach Gautam Gambhir faced plenty of flak for playing Washington ahead of Kuldeep Yadav to prove why having more batting depth is the way to go about it. But that Sundar's batting will nourish in the manner it did was a pleasant surprise. Playing in four out of the five Tests showed Gambhir's belief in his go-to man, and Sundar more than lived up to his performance, scoring 284 runs with one fifty and a hundred, and picking seven wickets.

At 25, Sundar has featured in 13 Tests for India, but Australia great Greg Chappell expects the all-rounder to at least play 50 of them. Sundar made his Test debut for India against Australia in the famous Gabba Test in 2021, but cut to today in 2025, he has only been part of the Playing XI in 12 more. Chappell expects him to play Tests for India more frequently and become the team's No. 1 all-rounder.

"I will be surprised if Washington Sundar doesn't establish himself as the team's premier all-rounder, who I expect to play in excess of 50 Tests," he wrote in his column for ESPNcricinfo.

Why Washington Sundar is India's future

For the longest time, Sundar's omission was given, considering Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were India's two leading spinners. However, the legendary Ashwin's retirement has opened the gates for him to take over. In the home series against New Zealand, Sundar grabbed 16 wickets, including career-best figures of 7/59. Gambhir has always been high on Sundar for what he brings to the table – an off-spinner who can score handy runs with the bat. However, whatever the England Tests have shown, Sundar can flourish in both departments.

Sundar's effort of 4/22 may have gone in vain as England edged India by 22 runs at Lord's, but it was a precursor of things to come. In what proved to be a pivotal knock in Manchester, Sundar and Jadeja forged an unbeaten 200-plus partnership, steering India to a remarkable draw with both hitting their respective centuries. Just a day earlier, with the top order crumbling to 0/2, such a result seemed unimaginable.

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