Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav has confirmed a timely boost for the national side, announcing that all-rounder Washington Sundar will join the squad in Delhi ahead of their next game against Namibia on February 12. Sundar has been on the sidelines since suffering a side strain during the first ODI against New Zealand last month. The injury forced him out of action for the remainder of the series. In his absence, the team management brought in Ayush Badoni as his replacement in the ODI setup. Meanwhile, despite his temporary unavailability, Sundar was not replaced in the T20I World Cup squad.
"Washy is joining us in Delhi. He is good; everything is fine," Suryakumar said after India's win over USA on Saturday.
Earlier, put into bat, India were put under huge pressure after the top order collapsed dramatically, leaving India struggling at 46 for 4 at the end of the powerplay. However, skipper Suryakumar Yadav unleashed his assault, smashing an unbeaten 84 to guide India to 161/9 in 20 overs.
"Only I can tell how much pressure I was feeling. But at the same time, I had the belief that I had batted in similar situations. And I have played a lot of cricket in the maidans of Mumbai, so I knew if I bat till the end, I can make a difference," Yadav said.
"It was a little different wicket from what it is always at the Wankhede. But at the same time, we knew when we woke up in the morning, there was not a lot of sun outside. The curator and the groundsmen tried their best to prepare the best pitch. But some things are not in their control. There was not enough sunlight to have the pitch rolled and watered. But we cannot be brushing everything under the carpet. We could have batted a little better," he said.
"After winning also, you get to learn a lot of things. And today we learnt that we could have batted a little better, or maybe a little smarter. Two small-small partnerships could have got us to 160 rather than one batter or two batters trying to play till the end. We have a lot of time – five days – for the next game, and we will come stronger," Suryakumar added.