The first finalists of IPL 10, the Rising Pune Supergiant announced Washington Sundar as the replacement for Ravichandran Ashwin who ruled himself out of the tournament due to sports hernia. The unheralded off-spinning all-rounder hails from Tamil Nadu and came into the spotlight after some eye-catching performances in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
He appeared for trials in Pune before the start of team’s 2017 campaign and was subsequently signed by the franchise hours before their first game of the season. Washington received his first IPL man of the match award for his outstanding performance in the Qualifier 1 against Mumbai.
Also read: IPL 2017: Mumbai Indians vs Rising Pune Supergiant, Player Ratings
He muted the hosts on three occasions, dismissing Rohit Sharma, Kieron Pollard and Ambati Rayudu. Here are some of the lesser known facts about the teenager from Chennai.
#1 Washington Sundar was born in Chennai on October 5, 1999. He started playing cricket at the age of 11 in the second division league in Chennai.
#2 Bowling in the nets, the teen castled Supergiant captain Steve Smith, after which he was given a chance in the team. His competitor in the nets was Parvez Rasool, who plays for Jammu and Kashmir and the Indian team. Despite being less experienced than Rasool, Sundar was given a chance in the team and became the third youngest IPL debutant
#3 At the age of 13, Sundar trained at the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai and impressed many, including the coach M Senthilnathan, by his ability to handle quality bowling at such a small age. He was immediately drafted into first division cricket which boasts of great standards in Tamil Nadu.
#4 In 2014, Sundar was included in the India Under-19 team at the age of 15. He made crucial contributions with his spin bowling in India’s Under-19’s journey in the World Cup 2016 where they reached the finals.
#5 With his amazing performances at the Under-19 level, Sunder made a first-class debut for Tamil Nadu in October 2016. Batting as an opener, he scored a solid 40 in the second innings but didn’t get a chance to bowl. In the nine List A matches that he had played that season, Sundar scored 85 runs and took seven wickets.
#6 Sundar was picked up by Albert TUTI Patriots to take part in the inaugural edition of the Tamil Nadu Premier league in 2016. He impressed with his bowling in the tournament, ending with 11 wickets in 9 games at an average of 12 and an economy rate of 5.54.
#7 A top-order batsman, Sundar began giving more importance to bowling on the advice of Indian Under-19 coach Rahul Dravid. He was also a part of the Tamil Nadu team that won the Vijay Hazare Trophy and Deodhar Trophy of 2017. He played total 9 games in both the tournaments and ended with an economy rate of 3.93 which was outstanding.
#8 Washington belongs to a cricket playing family. His father was his first coach. He was a cricketer himself who made it to the Ranji probable list but never to the main squad. Sister MS Shelaja has also played cricket.
#9 Sundar had bowled 14 of his 22 overs inside the Powerplay in the league stage. Among other spinners, only KKR’s Sunil Narine - with variations and experience at his disposal - had done it more often.
#10 Sundar gives a lot of credit to M Venkataramana, his coach at the National Cricket Academy and Tamil Nadu Cricket Association. "The two years I was with him in NCA, that was the time when my bowling started to evolve," he says. "He changed a couple of things for me, which worked in a big way. He is someone who played a very important role in me being here as an offspinner."
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