Washington Sundar

Washington Sundar (born 5 October 1999) is an Indian international cricketer who plays for the Indian cricket team. He also plays for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League and Tamil Nadu in domestic cricket. He is a left-handed batsman and right-arm off-spinner.^[3][4] He made his international debut against Sri Lanka on 13 December 2017.

Washington Sundar

Washington Sundar during the 2019–20 Vijay Hazare Trophy
Personal information
Born	(1999-10-05) 5 October 1999 (age 23) Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Nickname	Washi^[1]
Height	185 cm (6 ft 1 in)^[2]
Batting	Left-handed
Bowling	Right-arm off break
Role	Bowling all-rounder
International information
National side	India (2017–present)
Test debut (cap 301)	15 January 2021 v Australia
Last Test	4 March 2021 v England
ODI debut (cap 220)	13 December 2017 v Sri Lanka
Last ODI	24 January 2023 v New Zealand
ODI shirt no.	5
T20I debut (cap 72)	24 December 2017 v Sri Lanka
Last T20I	20 August 2023 v Ireland
T20I shirt no.	5 (formerly 55)
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2016–present	Tamil Nadu
2017	Rising Pune Supergiant
2018–2021	Royal Challengers Bangalore
2022–present	Sunrisers Hyderabad (squad no. 5)
2022	Lancashire
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI T20I Matches 4 16 35 Runs scored 265 233 107 Batting average 66.25 29.12 10.70 100s/50s 0/3 0/1 0/1 Top score 96* 51 50 Balls bowled 526 516 675 Wickets 6 16 29 Bowling average 49.80 27.18 28.03 5 wickets in innings 0 0 0 10 wickets in match 0 0 0 Best bowling 3/89 3/30 3/22 Catches/stumpings 1/– 4/– 12/–
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 24 March 2023

Early life

Washington Sundar was born in a Tamil Hindu family on 5 October 1999 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.^[5] He was named by his father M. Sundar in honour of a man named P.D. Washington, who had sponsored the elder Sundar's cricket passion.^[6][7] His sister Shailaja Sundar is also a professional cricketer.^[8][9] He started playing cricket from the age of four or five.^[10] He received his early education from St. Bede's Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School.^[11]

Domestic and IPL career

He made his first-class debut for Tamil Nadu in the 2016–17 Ranji Trophy on 6 October 2016.^[12] Like Ravichandran Ashwin from Tamil Nadu before him, Washington Sundar went from being a batsman as a youngster to making his name as an offspinner. In October 2017, he scored his maiden first-class century, batting for Tamil Nadu against Tripura in the 2017–18 Ranji Trophy.^[13] He was also selected for the India U-19 world cup in 2016.

In 2017, he was selected by Rising Pune Supergiant as a replacement for Ravichandran Ashwin. He made his Twenty20 debut for Rising Pune Supergiants in the 2017 Indian Premier League on 22 April 2017.^[14] He had received the man of the match award in IPL 2017 Qualifier 1 played between Mumbai Indians and Pune Supergiants, in which he took 3 wickets for 16 runs.

January 2018, he was bought by the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 2018 IPL auction.^[15] In October 2018, he was named in India C's squad for the 2018–19 Deodhar Trophy.^[16]

In the 2022 IPL Auction, Sundar was bought by the Sunrisers Hyderabad for ₹8.75 crores.^[17]

In August 2022, Sundar played for Lancashire County Cricket Club in the Royal London One-Day Cup and the County Championship. He claimed a five-wicket haul in his debut match against Northamptonshire County Cricket Club.^[18]

International career

In November 2017, he was named in India's Twenty20 International (T20I) squad for their series against Sri Lanka.^[19] Early the following month, he was also added to India's One Day International (ODI) squad for the same series, after Kedar Jadhav injured his hamstring.^[20] He made his ODI debut for India against Sri Lanka on 13 December 2017.^[21] Lahiru Thirimanne became his first wicket in international cricket as he clean bowled him out. Sundar then made his T20I debut for India against Sri Lanka on 24 December 2017.^[22] At the age of 18 years and 80 days, he became the youngest player to debut for India in T20Is.^[23]

In March 2018, he was selected in India's squad for the 2018 Nidahas Trophy against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. He was praised by many for his economical bowling inside the powerplay at an economy of less than 6 runs an over. During the series, he bagged a maiden 3-wicket haul, making him the youngest ever T20I player to do so. He was named the player of the series for his performance.^[24] He then became a regular member of the Indian Twenty20 team.^[25]

Sundar was initially only picked for the India's 2020-21 Australia tour as a net bowler; however, numerous injuries to fellow bowlers, and the inability for India to fly in replacements at short notice due to quarantine restrictions in effect during the COVID-19 pandemic, saw him win an unexpected first Test cap^[26] on 15 January, in the final Test match of the series at The Gabba.^[27] His first Test wicket was Steve Smith, while he scored 62 in his first Test innings in a crucial seventh wicket partnership of 123 with Shardul Thakur which kept India from facing a huge first innings deficit and contributed greatly to India's eventual victory in the test.^[28] With his maiden Test fifty, Sundar became only the third Indian to score a half-century on Test debut in Australia.^[29]

References

1. PTI (5 December 2017). "Father, coaches played big role in my career: Washington". The Times of India. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
2. Dinakar, S. (23 December 2015). . The Hindu. Archived from the original on 17 January 2021. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
3. K Chakraborty (6 November 2015). "Tamil Nadu teen makes India U-19 cut". The Times of India. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
4. "Washington Sundar". Espncricinfo.com. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
5. Dinakar, S. (17 May 2017). . The Hindu. Archived from the original on 13 December 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
6. "The reason behind Washington Sundar's unique name". The Times of India. 5 August 2019. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
7. "Washington Sundar's father reveals origin of RPS spinner's name". The Indian Express. 3 November 2019. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
8. "Chicken biriyani, sakkara pongal treat awaits cricketer Washington Sundar on return". The News Minute. 20 January 2021. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
9. "Will Spend Quality Time When He Returns: Washington Sundar's Sister Shailaja After India's Test Win". 19 January 2021.
10. Venugopal, Arun (15 May 2013). "Trying to make a name". The Hindu.
11. "CSK plans cricket academy". The New Indian Express. 22 December 2017. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
12. "Ranji Trophy, Group A: Mumbai v Tamil Nadu at Rohtak, Oct 6-9, 2016". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
13. "Washington Sundar's 156* underpins TN's dominance". ESPN Cricinfo. 15 October 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
14. "Indian Premier League, 24th match: Rising Pune Supergiant v Sunrisers Hyderabad at Pune, Apr 22, 2017". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
15. "List of sold and unsold players". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
16. "Rahane, Ashwin and Karthik to play Deodhar Trophy". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
17. "PL Auction 2022 live updates". 12 February 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
18. "Watch: Washington Sundar claims five-wicket haul on county debut for Lancashire". The Indian Express. 20 July 2022. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
19. "Washington Hooda in India's T20 squad". ESPN Cricinfo. 4 December 2017. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
20. "Washington Sundar replaces injured Jadhav in ODI squad". ESPN Cricinfo. 9 December 2017. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
21. "2nd ODI (D/N), Sri Lanka tour of India at Chandigarh, Dec 13 2017". ESPN Cricinfo. 13 December 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
22. "3rd T20I (N), Sri Lanka tour of India at Mumbai, Dec 24 2017". ESPN Cricinfo. 24 December 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
23. "Washington Sundar youngest to play for India in T20Is". Times of India. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
24. "Washington Sundar". Sportskeeda. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
25. "Team India's T20I, ODI and Test squads for Tour of Australia announced". The Board of Control for Cricket in India. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
26. Henry, Matthew (17 January 2021). "Thakur and Sundar lead fightback in Brisbane". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
27. Dinakar, S. (14 January 2021). "Washington Sundar set to make his Test debut against Australia". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
28. "Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur fight with backs to wall in record 7th wicket stand at the Gabba". Indian Express. 17 January 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
29. "Records galore for Washington Sundar as all-rounder achieves rare double on Test debut against Australia". Times Now. Retrieved 18 January 2021.

External links

• Washington Sundar at ESPNcricinfo