‘Let me get my century, then I will show you’: Washington Sundar buried Harry Brook with four sixes, feels Ravi Shastri

When Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja rejected England captain Ben Stokes' proposal to stop the match about an hour before the scheduled close of play and accept a draw as a result in the fourth Test at Old Trafford, Harry Brook made a comment. "If you wanted a hundred, you should have batted like that earlier." It was a distasteful comment in every sense for two batters who were fighting to save a Test match. India's batter Washington Sundar plays a shot(PTI)

Sundar and Jadeja both went on to get their respective centuries before agreeing to shake hands with the England players. In reality, they could well have batted on till the close of play and England could have done nothing about it. They didn't. Fair play to them. If he hadn't, no sportsmanship daggers should have been thrown at them. In fact, if anything, England deserved to be kept on the field for that extra hour purely because of the way they behaved. But as England captain Ben Stokes said before the start of the final Test, they have moved on and so have India.

Wrong! Sundar perhaps didn't. At least that is what former India head coach Ravi Shastri thinks because of the way the left-handed all-rounder batted on Day 3 of the series decider at The Oval.

Sundar blasted a 39-ball fifty that included four massive sixes. Sundar was 17 off 27 balls when he decided to go for it with his partners running out. He only had Prasidh Krishna for company when he flicked the switch. His first big shot was a hoist over mid-wicket off Gus Atkinson in the penultimate ball of the 85th over.

In the next over, bowled by Josh Tongue, Sundar hit two more sixes, and both of them were off the short ball, the same length that had brought about his downfall a few times in this series. It was a statement of sorts from Washington Sundar. To those who were doubting his abilities against the short stuff and definitely to Brook, who nudged him for not batting quickly enough.

Sky Sports broadcaster Ian Ward brought up the discussion when Sundar was going all guns blazing. "Harry Brook told him to bat quickly to get his hundred in the last Test," he said.

"He is now saying Let me get my hundred and then I will show you," said Shastri.

Sundar hit Atkinson for two fours and a six in the next over as the onslaught continued. He brought up his half-century with a smashing six. His last 33 runs (to fifty) came off just 12 balls before he was finally out caught for 53 off 36 balls.

Sundar's innings helped India set England a 374-run target after a superb century from Yashasvi Jaiswal and valuable fifties from Akash Deep and Ravindra Jadeja.

In reply, England got off to a decent start before Mohammed Siraj cleaned up Zak Crawley with a yorker in the last ball of Day 3 to leave England at 50/1.

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