The first ODI between India and Australia got underway at the Chepauk Stadium in Chennai. Before the match, a number of local young talents were given the opportunity to bowl at the India batsman in the nets. One of them was the 17-year-old Washington Sundar.
Sundar had played for Rising Pune Supergiant in the 10th edition of the Indian Premier League earlier this year. He came to the limelight after his Man of the Match performance in the first Qualifier against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
The right-hander bagged figures of 16/3 from 4 overs and accounted for the big wickets of Rohit Sharma, Ambati Rayudu and Kieron Pollard. A strong Mumbai Indians’ line-up was halted 20 runs short of the target of 163 as the Supergiant made it to the final.
Washington Sundar put in impressive performances in the final also as he gave away just 13 runs from 4 overs and played a crucial role in restricting the same opposition to a paltry 129 from 20 overs. Although his side went on to lose the match by one run yet it put the all-rounder on the Indian cricket map.
An impressive TNPL
He continued his rich vein of form in the Tamil Nadu Premier League also where he bagged 15 wickets in the tournament while playing for Albert Tuti Patriots and ended up being the second highest wicket-taker in the league. It’s not just the bowling that he possesses skills in but he is a capable top-order batsman which he proved by scoring 459 runs in 9 TNPL games, finishing as the top run-getter in the league.
For his superlative run, he was awarded by the Board of Control for Cricket India (BCCI) as he was picked in the squad for the Board Presidents XI that played the warm-up match against Australia at Chepauk. There as well, he returned with an impressive performance as he removed the Australian skipper Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell and gave away runs at just 2.87 per over.
