"Washington Sundar strikes me as a guy India have been waiting for" - Simon Doull

Former New Zealand cricketer Simon Doull believes Washington Sundar can form a powerful lower middle order in India's ODI team along with Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja.

On Wednesday (November 30), Sundar scored his maiden ODI half-century against New Zealand during the third and final ODI against New Zealand at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch.

Sundar's 64-ball 51 with the help of five boundaries and one six saved India's blushes and helped them put up a respectable 219 in the first innings.

Speaking about the all-rounder's place in India's core ODI XI, Simon Doull told Cricbuzz:

"Seriously impressed with him. Washington Sundar strikes me as a guy India have been waiting for. You always want Hardik Pandya first, but if Hardik Pandya and Washington Sundar are fit and fit to bowl. And (if) Jadeja comes back and he’s fit to bowl. All of a sudden it’s looking like wow."

He added:

"You know what we could have at No.5, No.6, No.7 and No.8 even. Which would be even better if they could have those six, seven, eight in any given side."

Doull further explained why Washington Sundar was successful against Tim Southee & co. while his teammates barring Shreyas Iyer (49) struggled to impose their authority in Christchurch.

He added:

"I’ve been so impressed with just his (Sundar's) temperament and his ability to leave the ball, which I think was a key today. In this third game, the key thing was leaving the ball alone. The ability to not play at every delivery to play the line and not follow it because it was seaming around."

He also said:

"It wasn’t easy conditions, I'll say that, but if you allowed your opening combination, your top order to get into the game and then kept wickets in hand at the back end, you would have been all right."

"India should have found a way to get Shardul Thakur back into the side" - Simon Doull

The Williamson-led side had included six bowlers in their playing XI in the third ODI, with Daryl Mitchell turning out to be a surprise for the visitors.

The right-arm medium pacer dismissed Rishabh Pant, Deepak Chahar, and Arshdeep Singh to complete his spell of 25/3 from seven overs.

While analyzing India's strategy for the third ODI, Doull claimed that the Men In Blue were missing Shardul Thakur as the fourth pace bowler and he could have been selected ahead of either Deepak Hooda or Yuzvendra Chahal in the team.

Doull said:

"New Zealand left Michael Bracewell out after picking him in Hamilton and not playing him. And India would have seen the conditions here and they should have found a way to get Shardul Thakur back into the side. He should have played ahead of Deepak Hooda and even ahead of Chahal."

He added:

"They needed that fourth seam bowling option and New Zealand proved that when Daryl Mitchell did such a great job and they left Santner so deep in the innings."

Rain once again proved to be a spoilsport as it washed away the final ODI of this bilateral series, and as a result, New Zealand won the three-match series by a 1-0 margin.

The Black Caps won their first ODI in Auckland by seven wickets before unwanted weather conditions meant the remaining two games had to be abandoned.