Suryakumar Yadav confirms Sundar’s return; Jasprit Bumrah misses USA game due to illness

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India captain Suryakumar Yadav has confirmed that allrounder Washington Sundar will link up with the Indian squad in Delhi ahead of their next match against Namibia on February 12. Speaking after India’s 29-run victory over the USA in their campaign opener, Suryakumar said Sundar was fit and ready to rejoin the team.

“Washy [Washington Sundar] is joining us in Delhi. He is good, everything is fine,” Suryakumar said.

Washington Sundar has been out of action since sustaining a side strain during the first ODI against New Zealand last month. While he was replaced by Ayush Badoni in the ODI series, the Indian team management chose not to name a replacement in the T20 World Cup squad, as the injury was not considered serious. Additionally, Sundar was not expected to feature in the first-choice XI immediately.

India were also without pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah for the USA game, with the fast bowler sidelined due to illness. Explaining Bumrah’s absence, Suryakumar said, “He was having a high fever because of the weather, like how Abhishek [Sharma] was under the weather. But the rest everything is good.”

In the match against the USA, India were put under significant pressure early on after slipping to 77 for 6. However, Suryakumar’s unbeaten 84 off 49 balls helped India recover to 161 for 9, a total that eventually proved sufficient. Reflecting on the innings, Suryakumar admitted the batting unit could have shown better game awareness.

“Only I can tell how much pressure I was feeling,” he said. “But I had the belief that I’ve batted in similar situations before. Playing a lot of cricket in the maidans of Mumbai helped — I knew that if I stayed till the end, I could make a difference.”

He also pointed out that pitch conditions played a role but stressed there were lessons to be learned. “It was a little different wicket from what we usually see at the Wankhede. There wasn’t enough sunlight for the pitch to be rolled and watered properly. But we can’t brush everything under the carpet. We could have batted a little better, a little smarter.”

Suryakumar concluded by emphasizing the importance of partnerships, even in victory. “After winning, you still learn a lot. Today we learnt that two small partnerships could have taken us to 160, rather than relying on one or two batters to bat till the end.”