Washington Sundar offers India balance with bat and ball, but his shifting ODI role raises a bigger question: do India need this much tactical flexibility?
Washington Sundar has played six of India’s nine ODIs this year. No Indian spinner has featured in as many, with Kuldeep Yadav playing four. Yet he has bowled fewer overs than Kuldeep and Axar Patel in 2026, and just two overs more than Ravindra Jadeja, who has played three ODIs.
His selection has rarely been difficult to justify. Since Ravichandran Ashwin’s retirement, India have not had a specialist off-spinner who has consistently forced his way into contention. Kuldeep gives them wrist-spin, while Axar and Jadeja offer left-arm orthodox. Even the newcomer Harsh Dubey is a left-arm spinner. Sundar brings something none of them does. His off-spin changes the angle, turns the ball away from left-handers and gives captains a different match-up to work with.
With the bat too, he answers a long-persisting problem in Indian cricket. India's strongest ODI batting line-up - Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya - is entirely right-handed. While Jadeja and Axar are left-handed too, Sundar offers something slightly different: he breaks the right-handed monopoly without forcing India to compromise on the variety of their spin attack. In theory, he gives India balance with both bat and ball before the first delivery has even been bowled.
But his usage, viewed more closely, suggests India are asking him to perform a role they have scarcely had before in ODI cricket.
Take the Afghanistan series.
In the opening ODI, Sundar came into the attack in the 12th over with left-hander Hashmatullah Shahidi at the crease, the only over he bowled all day. Debutant Harsh Dubey took over, claimed three wickets and became the talk of the game.
He bowled seven overs in Lucknow, while Kuldeep completed his full quota of ten. In the third ODI, Sundar was India's most economical spinner, returning figures of 8-2-23-0. It was also the game in which Shahidi scored a hundred, with India using Sundar's off-spin more extensively against the left-hander. In the previous match too, he had bowled a longer spell while another left-hander, Sediqullah Atal, was at the crease.
Sundar had also played one game against New Zealand earlier this year, bowling the ninth over when left-handers Devon Conway and Henry Nicholls were batting, bowling five overs, finishing up his spell in the 20th over of the innings.
Match-up bowling has long been a staple of T20 cricket, where bowlers are increasingly used for specific phases and specific batters. India appear to be applying the same thinking in the 50-over format, deploying Sundar more as a specialist answer to particular situations.
It reflects a subtle change in how India are approaching ODI bowling. Instead of expecting every frontline spinner to complete close to a full quota, they seem increasingly willing to carry one bowler whose workload is dictated almost entirely by the opposition's batting line-up.
Place Sundar's ODI career alongside Ashwin's. Across 114 innings, Ashwin bowled fewer than his full quota in 41, and in 38 of those, he still completed nine overs. Only four times did he bowl fewer than five overs in an innings. Once selected, Ashwin was largely expected to shoulder most of his workload. Sundar, by contrast, seems to be picked with the understanding that he may bowl only when the match-up demands it.
In the first England ODI, Sundar bowled four overs, starting his spell when left-handers Ben Duckett and Jacob Bethell were at the crease, conceding 12 runs. He then struck an unbeaten 53* in the successful run chase of 259 after being promoted to No.5, pushing KL Rahul down a spot.
In the second ODI, Sundar dropped to No.6, faced one delivery, scored two runs and was not asked to bowl at all, despite Axar Patel sending down nine overs. He was injured for the third game, forcing India to tweak their batting line-up and include Ishan Kishan, a left-hander, at No.4.
Across his six appearances this year, Sundar has batted at No. 5, No. 6, No. 7 and No. 8. He has bowled anywhere between one over and eight, and in one game not at all. His role changes not just from series to series, but often from match to match depending on the opposition and how the game unfolds.
Sundar's role appears to change according to the problem India need solving that day. But does ODI cricket demand that level of tactical flexibility?
Unlike T20s, where specialists are mostly used for specific match-ups, the 50-over format has traditionally rewarded settled roles. With 100 overs in a match, great players usually have enough time to plan, build and then create an impact, reducing the need for constant shuffling. India's run to the 2023 World Cup final was built on exactly that. The XI changed little, players knew their responsibilities, and there was little need for constant tactical tinkering.
If players only bat when required and only bowl when favourable match-ups present themselves, are those occasional contributions enough to outweigh picking a specialist who is likely to influence every game?
Right now, India appear convinced that Sundar belongs in their best ODI side. What they have not quite settled on is the role that gets the best out of him.
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