Washington Sundar

Washington Sundar is a prodigious young talent that has risen through the rigours of the domestic cricketing setup. Having already made a spot for himself in the T20I setup for India, the all-rounder is touted to be India’s next rising star.

Records

Washington Sundar is yet to create any cricket records.

Awards and accolades

• Received the Young Achiever Award from the Rotary Club of Madras

Career

Domestic Career

Sundar’s career started by playing domestic cricket for Tamil Nadu. He appeared for 12 first class matches in which he scored 532 runs at an average of 31.29 and also took 300 wickets at an average of 26.93. Washington made his first class debut for Tamil Nadu in the 2016-17 Ranji Trophy on 6 October 2016. In October 2017, he scored his maiden first-class century batting for Tamil Nadu against Tripura in the 2017-2018 Ranji Trophy.

IPL Career

In the 2018 auctions, Washington Sundar was snaffled up by Virat Kohli led Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs. 3.2 crores. However, in the last two seasons, Sundar has only managed to play 10 games and managed to pick 8 wickets whilst scoring 66 runs.

In 2020, Sundar had a breakthrough season. He got to play in 15 matches for RCB and took 8 wickets. Although he bowled in the powerplay, Sundar still had an economy rate of 5.96 runs per over.

In the following season, Sundar featured in only6 matches. The right-handed off-spinner picked up only three wickets and scored merely 31 runs. Due to his poor performance, Sundar got released from the Royal Challengers Bangalore franchise before the 2022 IPL Mega Auction.

In 2022, Sundar was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad for 8.75 crores. He played nine matches for SRH in the IPL’s latest edition. Sunday picked up only 6 wickets and had a poor economy rate of 8.54. Additionally, he failed in the batting department as well, scoring only 101 runs at an average of 14.43.

International Career

ODI Career

He made his ODI debut on 13 December 2017 against Sri Lanka. Sundar did not get to bat but managed to pick up one wicket while having a bowling economy rate of 6.50 per over. His unimpressive performance led to him being out of the Indian ODI playing eleven for more than 4 years. Sundar made his comeback in the Indian team in February 2022. In the West Indies series, Sundar got selected to play in three ODI matches.

He picked up three important wickets for thirty runs in the first match of the series. Then, in the next couple of matches, he picked up only one wicket and scored a total of 57 runs. His fifth match came 8 months later against South Africa. Although he did not get to bat in the series, Sundar took 3 key wickets in the two matches.

After the end of the 2022 ICC T20 World Cup, India toured New Zealand for a three-match ODI series in which Sundar featured in all of the matches. In the first match, Sundar finished the Indian innings brilliantly, scoring 37 runs off just 16 deliveries.

The second match was called off due to rain. And, in the third match, he scored 51 off 64 deliveries. Sundar’s recent matches have been in the ODI series against Bangladesh in December 2022. In the first match, he picked up 2 wickets for 17 runs and also scored 19 runs while batting. Then, in the following match, Sundar dismissed three main Bangladeshi batters but only managed to score 11 runs with the bat. In Sundar’s latest match, he scored a quick-fire 37 off 27 deliveries and took one wicket.

T20 Career

Sunday played his first T20I match against Sri Lanka in Mumbai on 24 December 2017. He took 1 wicket for 22 runs and did not get to bat. Next, he played in March 2018 in the tri-series against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. In the first match, against Sri Lanka, Sundar took 2 wickets for 28 runs. Then, against Bangladesh, although he failed to take any wickets, he was economical as ever, giving away only 23 runs of his four overs. In his fifth match, against Bangladesh, Sundar achieved his career-best bowling figures of 3 wickets for 22 runs. Sundar also played in the finals of the tri-series in which he took 1 wicket for 20 runs.

In August 2019, Sundar played in three T20I matches against West Indies. In the first match of the series, Sundar batted for the first time in a T20I, scoring an unbeaten 8 runs off 5 deliveries. In the three matches, Sundar picked up a total of two wickets and had an economy rate of 6.625 per over.

Next, he played two T20Is against South Africa. He bowled with an economy rate of 6.57 but failed to pick any wickets. Then, Sundar played three T20I matches against Bangladesh in November 2019. In the three matches, Sundar picked up only 1 wicket and had an economy rate of 7 runs per over. He ended 2019 by playing a T20I series against the West Indies in December. His overs were expensive in the first match, getting hit for 34 runs in three overs while picking up only one wicket.

In January 2020, Sundar played three T20Is against Sri Lanka. The first match got canceled due to rain. In the next two matches, he picked up 3 wickets for 66 runs. Then, Sundar played two away T20I matches against New Zealand. He performed poorly, taking only one wicket with an economy rate of 8.80 runs per over. Next, in December 2020, Sundar went to Australia for a three-match T20I series.

In all the three matches, Sundar had an average performance, taking only 2 wickets with an economy rate of 7.08 and scoring merely 14 runs. Then, Sundar featured in the 5-match T20I series at home. In the first three matches, Sundar performed well, picking up 4 wickets with an economy rate of 7.30 runs per over. Surprisingly, in the next two T20Is, Sundar’s performance with the ball went down as he had an economy rate of 13 runs per over. Sundar’s latest T20I match was against New Zealand in November 2022. He picked up one wicket for 24 runs in two overs.

Background

Washington Sundar was born on 5th October 1999 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Sundar's father, M Sundar, a cricketer who made it to the Tamil Nadu Ranji probables without getting into the final squad, named him Washington to honour his godfather, Mr. Washington, who would buy bats for him and pay his fees. Sundar became the youngest player to debut for India in T20Is, at the age of 18 years and 80 days.