Shamik Chakrabarty in Sri Lanka
“One thing is for sure, you always ask tough questions, controversial questions,” Washington Sundar said tongue-in-cheek at the post-match press conference. The young all-rounder usually likes to stay poker-faced at pressers, but after dishing out a match-winning performance in the third T20I against Sri Lanka on Tuesday, he broke into a smile. The question was about his irregular game time.
Washington made his international debut in 2017. Over the next seven years, he has featured in only 49 T20Is, 19 ODIs and four Tests. In the IPL too, he has mostly warmed the bench. The 24-year-old has had injury setbacks, a reason why he couldn’t become an India regular. On many other occasions, he was dropped for the sake of team combination and balance.
Only a few days ago, he was adjudged the Player of the Series after taking eight wickets from five matches at an economy rate of 5.16 in Zimbabwe. But as the frontline players returned for the T20I series in Sri Lanka, he wasn’t included in the playing XI in the first two games. Given an opportunity in the third, he scored 25 off 18 balls to give India’s total some respectability and then came back to take 2/23 from his four overs. As the game went to a Super Over, Washington dismissed Kusal Perera and Pathum Nissanka to restrict Sri Lanka to just two runs. No wonder that he was India’s MVP.
He also hit the irregular-game-time question for a six. “Unfortunately, only 11 can play,” he said. “Whenever the team needs me and whenever I’m out on the park, representing my country, I need to give100 per cent. I need to do a job so that my team is winning. That’s the only mindset I am in. Whenever I get an opportunity, I make sure that I try and contribute to my team’s success and win games for India.”
By his own admission, he was surprised to be asked to bowl the Super Over. “Honestly, I had no idea,” he said. “Especially after the batsmen walked out to bat, he (Suryakumar Yadav) just turned to me and said, ‘Washy, you are on’. I was very happy to be honest. When (your) captain wants you to bowl in tough situations, I thought it was a great opportunity for me to step up and win the game for my country. Thank God, things went well.”
Sri Lanka needed nine runs off the last two overs with six wickets in hand. Perera was batting on 46. The game sat in their dug-out. Surya didn’t turn to his pacers, Mohammed Siraj and Khaleel Ahmed. The ball was griping and turning, and the captain brought on Rinku Singh. The latter’s dibbly-dobbly off-spin got Perera and Ramesh Mendis out, and the hosts panicked.
Surya himself bowled the final over and dismissed Kamindu Mendis and Maheesh Theekshana off successive balls. In 92 T20Is between them before yesterday’s game, Surya and Rinku had never bowled a single delivery. At Pallekele, they put India on the cusp of victory from the jaws of defeat. The bowling selections were innovative, and more than anything else, it was intuitive.
Washington, however, was full of praise for his skipper. “It’s amazing of his leadership skills to be honest,” he said. “Twelve balls and 12 (nine) to get, I guess. And for him to bring Rinku against Kusal Perera; and Rinku got him out. Then, Surya bowled the last over and almost won the game for us. We all know he has a big heart when he goes out to bat. But he has a big heart in terms of leadership as well.”
There’s a reason why Washington is rated highly in Indian cricket. Despite a virtual no-show in this year’s IPL, the Indian team management wanted him in the T20 World Cup squad in place of Axar Patel. The Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee vetoed that. Axar, of late, has emerged as arguably India’s biggest utility player in white-ball cricket. And now that Ravindra Jadeja has hung up his T20I boots, Washington is expected to get more games. He has the ability to perform under pressure. The Gabba, on his Test debut, was the biggest case in point.