Mumbai, July 28: The maiden Test hundred does feel "special" and Washington Sundar, before heading out to bat early on fifth morning of the fourth Test against England, received one message from his coach Gautam Gambhir: "Just fight for the entire day." Washington (101 not out) and Ravindra Jadeja (107 not out) batted for more than 55 overs to add 203 runs for the fifth wicket and kept India alive in the series with a deserving draw here on Sunday. Sanjay Manjrekar Reflects on India’s Draw Against England at Old Trafford, Says ‘India Has Forced Ben Stokes To Rethink His Approach and Leadership Style’.

"This Test hundred feels very special. I just wanted to fight for an entire day and that was the only message given to me by the coach (Gambhir)," Washington told Cheteshwar Pujara on JioHotstar.

Washington, who had started his junior cricket as a specialist batter, was happy that he got an opportunity to bat in the top five.

"I was anyway going to bat at No. 5. I was padded up for two sessions. I was very glad that I got that opportunity. If I could bat higher up the order in future, it would be a blessing," the Chennai player said. IND vs ENG 4th Test 2025: Jonathan Trott Feels ‘England Are Probably a Little Frustrated’ With Handshake Controversy in Manchester.

"The chat that he had with Jadeja was to play each ball on merit. We wanted to let go off the thoughts of result and just concentrate on each and every delivery. We just wanted to play to the merit of each delivery. The wicket was doing a bit. Bulding partnership was important. The first job was to see off the new ball," Washington said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)