Among the players who stood tallest when India had their backs to the wall on the Australian tour was Washington Sundar. The Tamil Nadu all-rounder, who debuted in the historic Gabba Test in Brisbane, was one of the finds of the season for the Indian team.
Ahead of the Australian tour, Sundar had had a fabulous season for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL in UAE.
Looking back at the recent months which have been nothing short of marvellous, Sundar ranks donning the whites for the first time as his biggest achievement.
“It was an amazing season for the Indian team and for me. The fact that I made my debut and played a few Test matches definitely is a big success for me. There were lots of takeaways in terms of technical and physical aspects. I want to keep working hard in the coming years,” Sundar said told The Quint after signing up as a PUMA ambassador.
At RCB, Sundar is one of Virat Kohli’s go to bowlers in the UAE as he helped stem the flow of runs more often than not for his side. This year, the franchise has undergone an overhaul and one of the most talked about acquisitions is that of Glenn Maxwell.
With Maxwell, the big question was how long do you wait on potential after he had gone through quite a rough patch in the tournament. The Australian has previously spoken about the clarity of role designated to him and Mike Hesson at RCB was on to quick to latch on.
“The management have been very clear on the roles that he (Maxwell) is going to be playing for RCB in the IPL. He played a huge part in the winning start for RCB and he is getting along really well with the whole team,” Sundar said.
Along with the IPL, everyone involved, almost every player, will have their eyes on the T20 World Cup that is scheduled for later this year. For Sundar, it’s all about staying uncomplicated.
“I would take one game at a time and looking too far ahead is not going to help in any way. It’s all about getting into the rhythm.. and I would like to stay in the process and help win a lot of games and perform to our potential.”
Speaking about life in the bio-bubble, Sundar was clear that more than anything he felt grateful to be able to do what he loves the most.
“That we get to play a lot of cricket is a big thing. In a lot professions people are not able to what they want to do and the fact that we are playing at the highest level, we’d like to focus on that. That’s what I’ve been doing and the last 7 months or so I have been in the bubble but it’s been really good in these months,” Sundar signed off.
In IPL 2021, Sundar and RCB have got off to a great start winning five of their six games so far with Sundar having picked 3 wickets.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)