Former Indian batter Mohammad Kaif highlighted that Washington Sundar is a work-in-progress as a bowler and needs to work a lot on his bowling. Sundar bowled four overs and went wicketless after conceding 28 runs in the second ODI against South Africa.

Sundar was dismissed after scoring 13 runs in the opening game and bowled only three overs. The all-rounder was dropped in the third game at Vizag on Saturday as Tilak Varma got his chance. Kaif noted that the captains are not backing Sundar to bowl his complete quota of overs as he is not a wicket-taker. 

Sundar could also take a solitary wicket in two Test matches against South Africa at an average of 128.

“The management can answer what Washington’s role is. He is not even half of Ashwin if we talk about skills as a spinner. Even in Tests and ODIs, under different captains, not one but all of them have not given him full overs. When the game is tight, they go to Jadeja and Kuldeep. There is no trust that he can pick wickets at any stage, like how it is with Kuldeep. He will have to work a lot on his bowling,” Mohammad Kaif said on his YouTube channel.

Kaif urged India’s think tank to give a clear role to Washington Sundar to get the best out of him.

“First of all, his wicket-taking ability is less, and now you want Sundar to bat and are just putting more pressure on him. It is like he is neither a bowler nor a batter. Make him do one thing and give him a clear role. He can play the role of Axar in batting in the middle. That is fine. But his main role is bowling. Batting is a bonus. But if his bowling gets bad, which is evident as they are not giving overs, he will go further behind in bowling. He will have to work on his skills and variations as a bowler. If he wants to play longer for India, he has to improve his bowling,” he added.

India will now take on South Africa in a five-match T20I series, starting Tuesday.