Over two Indian Premier Leagues, in 2023 and 2024 respectively, Washington Sundar bagged a mere four wickets in nine matches. It is true that T20 cricket is not exactly a barometer to judge someone’s credentials for the longest format. But there was no doubt that a piece or two of the jigsaws were missing from his bowling. It seemed as if Washington was mostly bowling with a flatter trajectory.
Around 5-6 months later, when he was rather surprisingly picked in India’s playing XI, against New Zealand, for the Pune Test, Washington turned out to be the trump-card, bagging a 10-wicket haul for the match. The transformation was quite incredible, and for a moment, one pondered whether the previous version was akin to a long-lost twin brother of the bowler who took a string of wickets versus New Zealand.
Just zoom your lens on Washington’s bowling in the just-concluded Test series, and it could be clearly seen that there was more energy in his run-up. The telling difference was the kind of overspin Washington imparted on the ball.
Just think of the jaw-dropping delivery to Rachin Ravindra in the second Test. The ball dipped and turned, and there was inward drift. Eventually, Ravindra was beaten on the outside edge, with the stumps getting rattled.
Washington’s exploits weren’t just restricted to the Pune Test as he added another five scalps in Mumbai to finish with a rich haul of 16 wickets for the series. Behind the scenes, Washington is said to have worked with S Sriram, who has had coaching stints with Bangladesh and Australia.
With an impressive showing against New Zealand, Washington has also put his hat in the ring for the upcoming Border-Gavaskar-Trophy in Australia. The tall off-spinner is again expected to impart overspin and extract bounce from those surfaces in Australia.
In the first Test at Perth, he could also come into the equation in the second innings. With the sunshine beating down on the pitch, generally tracks in Perth tend to crack as the game progresses, which should assist Washington.
Lest we forget that Washington is competent with the bat in hand too. Who can forget the game-breaking stand with Shardul Thakur in the Gabba Test?
With R Ashwin and R Jadeja in the mix, India also have a couple of experienced pros to choose from for the opening Test. But Washington might just be the best-suited candidate of the trio to take the number seven slot in the batting order.
Just spool back in time, and it can be observed that Washington has grabbed every single opportunity with both hands. In the 2017 IPL, he replaced an injured Ashwin at Rising Pune Supergiant on the back of castling Steve Smith in trials.
At the Gabba, in 2020-21, his contributions with both the bat and ball powered an injury-ravaged Indian side to one of their greatest-ever triumphs. A few years later, from nowhere, he established himself as one of the mainstays of India’s bowling line-up versus New Zealand. There is enough evidence to believe that the quiet and unassuming cricketer is all set to shine brightly in the forthcoming Test series in Australia.