Kolkata, July 14 -- When the ultimate aim is to take 20 wickets, it shouldn't matter who took them or how they were knocked off. But we live in times where there is a pressing need to have an opinion on who can bowl and who can't, rather than who should bowl or shouldn't, writing off anyone trying to put his foot in the door. Safe to assume now that at least for a day, Washington Sundar has made most eat their words. His name won't be on the Lord's honours board, comparisons with Ravichandran Ashwin will remain far-fetched, and for all you know Sundar will continue to be regarded as an allrounder. But Joe Root, Jamie Smith and Ben Stokes will attest to the guile that made him unplayable on Sunday. On a fourth day Lord's pitch, he made the old ball turn, grip, hold its line and drift spectacularly to make the England middle order insecure about their off-stump corridor. No amount of horizontal shots, backfoot press or frontfoot heaves seemed enough to negate him. It was a potentially match-altering passage of play not only because of Sundar's haul of 4/22, but also how it confronted the notion that only Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj are qualified to dismiss the big names. The obscurity in which Sundar survived - he was hardly ever recognised as a full-time bowler - probably contributed to the ignorance with which England faced him, unwilling to play him as late as possible on a pitch with inconsistent bounce. And just to drive home the point, all his dismissals were bowled. Probably the most spectacular among them was how Sundar got Joe Root. Now Root's technique is steeped in tradition, but he also has a tendency to sweep, as is the case with most top non-subcontinent batters. Sundar exploited that early by trying to drift into his leg, asking Root to go one better than just turning the ball towards midwicket. There was a ball that turned and bounced, beating Root on his inside edge as he went into a forward defensive push. The next time Sundar made the ball drift into him, Root didn't hesitate to unleash the sweep. But so across the pitch had he gone by then that Root's leg-stump was exposed, inviting the ball to sneak past his blade and crash into leg-stump. Jamie Smith has been a fantastic bat this series but this time he was straightaway thrown into the deep end. Hanging back to Sundar's off-breaks was the right strategy but so deceptive was his drift that Smith was in no way armed to anticipate a quicker version of it that stayed low while going past the outer edge and clattered into the off-stump. Smith was a big breakthrough because he was someone who could have got England quick runs. Once that option was blown, Stokes had no choice but to slowly change gears. Which was a risky move because the England skipper has never been comfortable against the off-spinner. Blocking, prodding, pushing at the ball, Stokes was on survivor mode till he was teased by a fullish delivery to sweep, but he barely managed to drag it through square leg for a scratchy boundary. Visibly excited, Sundar again got the ball to drift into Stokes, only for the batter to go for a slog sweep and miss it. This time, the ball skidded into his stumps....