Washington Sundar Reveals How Head Coach Ravi Shastri Helped Him To Settle Down In Indian Dressing Room
The year 2017 has been nothing short of a dream. The teenage sensation from Tamil Nadu, Washington Sundar, arrived at the scene after being roped in by Rising Pune Supergiant to fill the large of Ravichandran Ashwin in this year’s Indian Premier League and has not looked back since then.
He had repaid the franchise’s faith by taking 11 wickets in nine games at an average of 12 and an impressive economy rate of only 5.54. It was followed by an impressive debut in the Duleep Trophy where he scored a fifty and took 11 wickets. Washington Sundar’s impressive performance continued in the Tamil Nadu Premier League too as he finished the tournament as its highest run-scorer.
Washington Sundar was also impressive in the ongoing Ranji Trophy, where he has scored 315 runs so far including the 159-run knock against Tripura which was his maiden first-class ton in addition to picking up 12 wickets.
And as soon as he cleared the mandatory Yo-Yo Test, he received his maiden India call-up. He was included in the team for the T20I series against Sri Lanka and was later included in the ODI team too after Kedar Jadhav was ruled out due to an injury.
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At 18, when most of the budding cricketers remain busy in finding their feet at even the lower stages of the game, Washington Sundar has already played two international games for his country, and he is well aware of his achievements which is nothing less than a dream come true for him.
“For someone of my age, walking out for India and sharing the dressing room with the likes of M.S. Dhoni and so many others was a dream come true,” he told The Hindu.
The all-rounder also revealed how he was motivated by head coach Ravi Shastri to remain fearless.
“Shastri Sir must have uttered the word ‘bindaas’ to me at least six times over the last two weeks. He wanted me to enjoy my cricket, be fearless,” he recalled.
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The youngster went on to reveal how the other members of the team helped him to settle down.
“They put me at ease. Shastri Sir kept telling me to believe in myself. Bowling coach B. Arun Sir wanted me to play my natural game and Rohit Sharma showed a lot of faith in me,” said Washington who was asked to ball in the powerplay during the third ODI against Sri Lanka.
While Washington is over the moon with his recent achievements, he also expressed his disappointment over missing the last ODI in Vizag due to a viral fever.
“I was gutted, couldn’t even go to the ground with the team. I had always loved bowling at Vizag, I missed out this time and have to take these things in my stride,” he said.
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