India fell to England in the 3rd Test of the five-match series after a hard-fought battle at Lord’s. While the defeat means that India have now dropped to 2-1 behind the hosts in the series, it makes the penultimate Test a must-win affair for Shubman Gill and his men. However, spirits in the Indian camp were sky high ahead of the second innings after the hosts were bowled out for 192.India star Washington Sundar, who played an impressive part in India’s efforts to bowl out England in the second innings in particular, was extremely confident of securing the win. In conversation with the media, the 25-year-old even went on the record to state that India ‘will’ win. This elicited a sharp reaction from England batter and former captain Jos Buttler. Speaking in the “For The Love Of Cricket” podcast alongside Stuart Broad, the Englishman argued that Sundar must have gotten his words wrong.“I heard it and then I thought, has he actually said that?” said Buttler. He was referring to a clip where the young player told the media that ‘It’s going to be amazing when we win the game and go 2-1 up in this series. “I wonder if he’s just got his words out wrong,” said Buttler.Buttler also said that Sundar’s comments were made with such confidence that showing that clip to the hosts ahead of the final day would have been enough to get them fired up and charged to win the game on Monday.
He proceeded to claim that Sundar must have regretted his words immediately after the interview. Broad however, backed Sundar, saying that his extremely confident words were most probably owed to fatigue and confusion after the day’s play.
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In the end, Sundar and the rest of his teammates were forced to admit defeat on Monday as England pulled off a stunning victory on Day 5. The hosts successfully managed to restrict India to 170 despite a marathon effort from Ravindra Jadeja. Sundar ended up going out for a duck in the second innings as Jofra Archer claimed his wicket.
