India legend Anil Kumble believes Washington Sundar should be used as a lower-middle-order all-rounder in Tests, not as a makeshift top-order batter. In his view, No. 7 or 8 is “where he can hurt the opposition” and best impact games for India.

Kumble’s Preferred Role for Sundar

Kumble backed the team’s Guwahati move to bat Sundar at No. 8, even though many felt his promotion to No. 3 in Kolkata merited a longer run higher up.

In the Eden Gardens Test, Sundar was surprisingly pushed to first drop with specialist No. 3 Sai Sudharsan left out, a call Kumble had already questioned before the match.

After Gill’s injury for the second Test, Sudharsan came back and Sundar dropped to No. 8, where he responded with a gritty 48 off 92 on a tough Guwahati pitch.

Kumble’s reasoning is simple: Sundar’s current value profile—counter-attacking against an older ball, farming the strike with the tail, and changing the tempo—is better suited to 7 or 8 than to a stabilising role at 3.

“This is where he can hurt the opposition,” Kumble said on Star, stressing that India’s top order needs specialist batters who can settle into fixed roles, rather than being patched over by all-rounders.

How Sundar Showed His Value at No. 8

India were 122/7 in their first innings in Guwahati, staring at a possible follow-on in reply to South Africa’s 489.

Sundar (48 off 92) and Kuldeep Yadav (44 off 134) added 72 for the eighth wicket, dragging India past 200 and forcing Temba Bavuma to rethink enforcing the follow-on​

Kumble highlighted that stand as a key passage: had Kuldeep fallen early, “India would have been batting again” on the same day, he argued.

For Kumble, that kind of lower-order rescue act is exactly why Sundar fits No. 7/8: he can both shield the tail and score quickly enough to change the game’s complexion.

Concerns Over Constant Shuffling

While endorsing Sundar’s lower-order role, Kumble also criticised India’s broader selection pattern—especially the constant chopping and changing under Gautam Gambhir.

​In just six Tests with Gambhir as head coach, Sundar has batted at five different positions: 3, 5, 7, 8, and 9, yet still averages 54 in this phase.

​Kumble called the revolving-door top order “a bit unsettling for the players,” arguing that young batters like Sudharsan need a longer rope in fixed roles rather than being benched for all-round-heavy XIs.

​He had already slammed the Kolkata XI as “a team full of all-rounders” and questioned dropping Sudharsan to play Sundar at No. 3, a move he felt compromised the batting core.

Sundar’s Own Take: Happy to Float

Washington Sundar himself has taken a diplomatic view, saying he’s happy to bat “wherever the team wants” and finds it “exciting” to take on different roles.

Under Gambhir, his last seven Test innings have come at 5, 8, 9, 7, 3, 3, and 8—an instability that would unsettle most players, yet he has consistently soaked up pressure:

A second-innings hundred at Manchester while facing a 311-run deficit.

A 46-ball 53 at The Oval in a narrow six-run win.

82 and 92-ball rearguards on tricky turning pitches at Eden Gardens and Guwahati.

Kumble, though, believes India must eventually stop relying on such flexibility as a structural fix, lock Sundar into a lower-middle-order all-rounder role, and let the top order “settle down” with specialists.