Washington Sundar said the handshake drama on Day 5 of the Old Trafford Test fired up the Indian cricket team and brought the best out of him as well.England captain Ben Stokes offered a draw to Indian batters Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar at the drinks break in the final session of Day 5 in Manchester. At that time, both Jadeja and Washington were closing in on centuries — a first in Test cricket for the latter — and Stokes was furious that the two batters wanted to push on to their personal milestones.“I mean, it just happens in any sport, doesn’t it?” Washington told Wisden.“We’ve seen a lot of such things happen, not just in cricket, but in any sport. I mean, that’s how sport is. It brings out a lot. I think it was just an experience for all of us, honestly.”Sundar admitted that the tension kind of fired him up.“One hundred per cent,” he said.“You ask this to any player — that’s exactly what you would hear. Especially in Test cricket, you want to be challenged because that’s exactly what you expect every single day. And when the situation gets tough, the only thing that will help you get over it and come out successful is being really tough in your head.“Every player who’s played this format and been successful would have done this extremely well and over a long period of time, quite consistently as well,” he said.Talking about the Oval Test win, he said: “It was fabulous.“I mean, just the way the game turned out after every session was fabulous. Especially on Day 5, that 40 minutes was super intense because when you know the target has come down to single digits, you never know — anything could happen. Literally one delivery could change the entire course of the game and take it from the opposition.”
