Washington Sundar refuses to leave the crease after getting dismissed by Gus Atkinson, Ponting blames India all-rounder

India hoped Karun Nair and Washington Sundar would give them a good start on Day 2 of the fifth Test, but the exact opposite happened. Karun Nair was the first to go when he missed a fuller-length in-dipper from Josh Tongue. It hit him right in front of the stumps and umpire Kumar Dharmasena had no doubts before raising his finger. Karun took a review for reasons only known to him. By the time the ball tracking came, he was already halfway to the Indian dressing room. India's batter Washington Sundar returns to the pavilion after getting dismissed by England's bowler Gus Atkinson(PTI)

In the very next over, Washington Sundar fell prey to England's short-ball ploy. Gus Atkinson dugged one in short. Sundar went for the pull shot rather half-heartedly and ended up hitting it straight to the deep square-leg fielder, where Jamie Overton made no mistake.

So shocked was Washington that he refused to leave the crease. He stood there in disbelief for quite some time. before finally getting up and slowly trodding his way back to the pavilion for 26. It was an unusually long wait for a batter in the crease after getting dismissed.

It was not the first time Sundar got out to a short ball this series. In his short career, if anything, he has given an indication of being a compulsive hooker. While he also gets a decent amount of success with that shot, it also brings about his downfall, especially when he goes at it half-heartedly.

That's exactly what happened on Friday, said former Australia captain Ricky Ponting. "A bit of a nothing shot, half-hearted. You've got to get on top of that and hit it over the top. There was a bit more purpose but it was not enough," Ponting said on commentary.

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri said Atkinson “set Sundar up nicely.”

Once Karun and Sundar fell, it was always going to be difficult for India's tailenders to survive on that green top. Atkinson took four more balls to get the last two Indian wickets and finish with his fourth five-wicket haul. Mohammed Siraj was clean bowled after a fuller length ball just moved away and Prasidh Krishna nicked one to the keeper.

India, after resuming the day at 204 for six, were bowled out for 224 in 69.4 overs. Karun Nair was the top-scorer with 57 while Sai Sudharsan (38) and Washington Sundar (26) made useful contributions.

For England, Gus Atkinson (5/33) was the pick of the bowlers by a country mile. Yes, the pitch had plenty for the faster bowlers, but he never left his spot. He kept on bowling in the right areas, and the results followed.

Josh Tongue, despite being wayward, bowled a couple of jaffers to dismiss Ravindra Jadeja and Sai Sudharsan and finish with figures of 3 for 57.

India are trailing the five-match series 1-2.

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