Sundar had, before this match, played one ODI and 26 T20Is. While there were speculations that he would be played, it seemed unlikely that he would be picked ahead of Kuldeep Yadav who had taken a five-wicket haul in the last Test he played, two years ago at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
However, off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin’s success against Smith and Labuschagne may have prompted the team management to throw Sundar at the forefront.
“We had some plans for Steve Smith. But this is a different game altogether. The last game was different (Sydney, where Smith scored 131 and 81). Entire conditions were different. This game is different. I had to bowl good balls over and over again to get him out. It happened,” said Sundar, who bowled 12 dot balls at the Aussie batting mainstay before getting him out off a drive that went straight to Rohit Sharma at short mid-wicket.
“Yes, there a bit of nervousness but more than that, it is an amazing opportunity…we had some plans going for Smith and…
