It’s been more than three and a half years since India fielded two right-arm off-spinners in a Test XI. That was in March 2021 in Ahmedabad against England, when R Ashwin took eight wickets and Washington Sundar one in an innings-and-25-run defeat of England to secure the team’s place in the final of the World Test Championship.

Despite scoring 265 runs in four Tests between January 15 and March 6 in 2021, Washington quickly went out of the reckoning when it came to the five-day game. He continued to impress with the white ball, but the doors to Test cricket seemed shut on him when, dramatically, he was recalled on Sunday to the Indian team for the second game against New Zealand.

Having nursed the ambition of returning to red-ball action, Washington made his comeback to Test cricket memorable for the right reasons. In a wonderful exhibition of finger spin on a responsive, but not overly so, surface, he at times outbowled his senior Tamil Nadu off-spinning counterpart to finish with seven for 59, perfectly merited figures for the consistency and intelligence he showcased during his long stints at the bowling crease.

Washington completed a demolition job that had been started by Ashwin after Tom Latham won a crucial toss and opted to bat. That the surface would assist spinners was never in doubt, it was only a matter of when and how much rather than whether. As it turned out, Thursday’s day one didn’t unveil a minefield, though there were enough indications that as the match devolves, batting will become more and more tricky.

Whether Washington felt the pressure to deliver because he was replacing a proven wicket-taker in the playing XI, left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav, isn’t clear. If he was, he didn’t show it. Washington has come on by leaps and bounds as a bowler since his last Test appearance, and that was obvious in his use of the crease, in the changes in angle and pace that he brought to his bowling.

With pithy, timely, meaningful insights, of course, from Ashwin, who has been there and done that. Washington started by delivering two tight spells, then ramped up things in a decisive final burst that netted him seven for 28 from 10.1 overs; by the time he was done with running rings around the Kiwis, he finished with career-best figures of seven for 59, coincidentally Ashwin’s best Test figures too.

The two offies from Chennai complemented rather than competed with each other. Ashwin was generous in sharing his wisdom, secure in his place in the pantheon and enjoying his younger colleague’s place in the sun, while Washington was quietly grateful for the support and encouragement. It was great fun, watching the master and the willing, talented apprentice at work. Great fun for everyone except those in the Kiwi dugout, though even they were transfixed at the consistency with which Washington hit his spots.

Ashwin was the one Washington understandably turned to for guidance when he linked up with the team at nets in Pune on Tuesday. “I asked him a few things that I felt might help me get better and eventually be really good with my skill set and he was very kind enough to share his experience and knowledge about bowling, spin bowling in particular,” Washington revealed. “Today in particular, we kept talking about what kind of pace is actually helping on this wicket.”

Even though they both hail from Chennai, Ashwin and Washington’s paths don’t cross often. “It's (communicating with Ashwin) is quite rare,” Washington conceded, “but he's very kind, especially in that perspective. Not just me but no matter who goes and asks him for ideas about bowling, he's always there to help. That's a great quality and it feels special to be playing alongside him in Test cricket.”

Different bowlers

Both might ply the same craft, but Ashwin and Washington are vastly different operators. There are few bowlers in the world who have even half the skillsets of the engineer from Chennai, while Washington is still a work in progress. Ashwin is the master of angles and pace, of working batsmen over and out; Washington is still learning the nuances of off-spin bowling, but on Thursday, he bowled like a virtuoso. The ball that cleaned up Rachin Ravindra – drifting into the left-hander and breaking away on pitching to hit top of off – is generally an Ashwin special. The understudy, well, to say that he made the master proud would be an understatement.

Between them, Ashwin and Washington accounted for all ten Kiwi wickets, the first time two Indian off-spinners had dismissed all batters in a completed Test innings. One is sure they aren’t finished yet. Not by a long way.

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