Washington Sundar shines on his return to international cricket

Washington Sundar had spent a lot of time on the sidelines due to injury. The off-spinning all-rounder missed the T20 World Cup due to a finger injury. He was also excluded from the squad for the tour of South Africa after testing positive for COVID-19.

The 22-year-old admitted that being away from the cricket field for so long was a difficult period for him to go through. However, he tried his best to utilize that time to work on and improve his skills and Sundar made a spectacular return to the side in the first ODI against West Indies. He bowled a brilliant spell with the ball and ended up picking three wickets for 30 runs.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, Washington Sundar reflected on his time away from the field. “There were a lot of challenges but I just wanted to do what I could do to improve myself as a cricketer. That’s all that’s in my control and I was only focusing on that. Yes, there will always be challenges, that’s something that I have realised especially in the last couple of years. But what matters is how I push myself, keep getting better at the aspects that I want to and keep improving myself. I’ve tried to focus on it,” he said.

Missing out on the T20 World Cup was a massive disappointment for the all-rounder. In fact, it proved to be a big hindrance for Team India as well as Hardik Pandya, who was picked in the team as an all-rounder, wasn’t fit enough to bowl regularly. As a result, the XI often lacked balance and Sundar’s inclusion would’ve helped with that.

Despite that setback, he is looking forward to the future and with two World Cups in the horizon, he will get his chance.

“It was very, very disappointing to have lost out on a chance to play the World Cup. But yes, there are two World Cups in the next 15-16 months, so that should be my focus.”

While Yuzvendra Chahal was elected as the Player of the Match for his four-wicket-haul in India’s 1000^th ODI, Washington Sundar also supported him immensely. In his first international match since the white-ball series against England almost 11 months earlier, Sundar got rid of Darren Bravo and Brandon King in quick succession. He also returned to end the frustrating partnership between Jason Holder and Fabian Allen in the lower order.

“I was just bowling to my strength and of course we had some plans for their batsmen. We just wanted to execute the plans and it was heartening to get off. I am happy that I could bowl to my strengths,” the 22-year-old summed up.