IPL 2017

Washington Sundar—Pune's young giant

CRICKET-T20-IPL-IND-MUMBAI-PUNE Washington Sundar bowls in the match against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai | AFP

Rising Pune Supergiant skipper Steven Smith jumped with joy when Washington Sundar was named Man of the Match in the first qualifier between Mumbai Indians (MI) and RPS in IPL 2017. Sundar's triple strike with the ball catapulted Pune directly into the finals and earned him the Man of the Match, too. Their opponents never really recovered from the blow—Rohit Sharma and Ambati Rayudu in his second over and the biggie, Kieron Pollard, in his third—and lost the match by 20 runs. Mumbai has another chance to make the final and get even with Sundar if they manage to win the qualifier on May 19. The 17-year-old, meanwhile, will be backing his traditional off-spinners to do the star turn for his team yet again.

His performance seems to have caught his own team management off guard, if his hastily photoshopped picture and dummy text for the profile on the RPS official website are anything to go by!

For Sundar, the 2016-17 season has been about learning and making cricketing gains. Indian Premier League has been just one part of his nascent cricket journey. The youngster replaced injured R. Ashwin in the RPS team. Until Tuesday night, the Chennai lad had played nine IPL matches and taken five wickets. However, 14 of the 22 overs he bowled were in the Powerplay at an economy rate of just over 7 in the league stage. Clearly he has thrived in the confidence his team has shown in him. He looks at ease amongst senior pros like Steve Smith and Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Speaking to iplt20.com, post the match, with skipper Smith for company, he said, “It feels really good, especially to have taken wickets of key members of their side. On such a big occasion, in front of such a packed crowd. Smith has been a great support. Thanks a lot for giving me an opportunity to play 10 games. For an offie... I don't think any other team has been willing to do that but you (Smith) did.”

It helped that former India player Hrishikesh Kanitkar is part of the RSP coaching staff. He is also the coach of the Tamil Nadu Ranji team. It was under his watch that Sundar made his Ranji trophy debut. He played five matches, scored 87 runs as an opening batsman and took seven wickets. His stints in Vijay Hazare and Deodhar Trophy, too, were encouraging.

Coached from childhood by his father M. Sundar, who was himself a cricketer, Sundar was born and brought up in Triplicane, near the Chepauk stadium in Chennai. He was named after his father's mentor—a former Army man, P.D. Washington, who helped his father with his cricket and education. “Washington is my God,” said the father, of his mentor. “The year he died, 'Washy' was born,” he told THE WEEK. While he works with the Income Tax department, he runs the K. Radhakrishnan Cricket Academy, too.

Describing himself as a coach first and father later, the proud dad said, “He (Sundar) started playing at the age of six. He would accompany me to the academy and watch me train in nets. When he was around 8-9 years, I could see a special talent in him. I realised he was a blessed child, born to achieve something great.” According to him, the young cricketer is not just an all-rounder in cricket, but also in academics. Sundar, however, stopped attending regular school after the 10th standard and completed his 12th through home schooling.

When Sundar turned 13, his father took him to the MRF Pace Academy, where his friend and fellow cricketer M. Senthilnathan was the chief coach. Even as Sundar makes headlines with his bowling, the chief coach insists that his ward will contribute more with the bat. “People have not seen him bat. When he was picked for Ranji Trophy he was only considered a batsman. He is a very good all-rounder,” said Senthilnathan. He said the southpaw is a smart cricketer and a dedicated student who is eager to learn, but added in the same breath, “This is just the beginning. He has to keep improving constantly, every day.”

Sundar's father credits not just Senthilnathan for his son's growth, but a host of former cricketers from Tamil Nadu who gave him valuable feedback on his son's game. While Sundar credits M. Venkataramana, coach at the National Cricket Academy and Tamil Nadu for improving his bowling, his father mentions the likes of Bharath Reddy, V.B. Chandrashekhar, V.V. Kumar, L. Sivaramakrishnan for giving valuable inputs along the way.

Happy that his son is getting noticed, his father said, “A day will come when he will be known for his batting. This is just his first year at senior level, we have a target and we are going towards it.” 

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