When Washington was 9, he batted regardless of stitches on his temple: Father Sundar

Till he turned 10, Washington Sundar’s every day ritual concerned going to his father M Sundar’s cricket academy in Pudupet, Chennai, at daybreak, the place he would practice for 3 hours earlier than heading to highschool. Even weekends had been normally spent right here. Sundar, who couldn’t graduate past grade cricket in Chennai, says he was serving to his son Washington realise his cricketing goals.
Having an elder sister, additionally a cricketer, helped. Shailaja, who represented Tamil Nadu on the Under-19 stage, calls her youthful brother “a natural, with a studious zeal for the game.”
With a cricket-crazy father and an enthusiastic elder sister by his facet, it was not troublesome to foretell younger Washington’s profession trajectory.
He would make a seamless development via age-group ranges, breaking into Tamil Nadu Ranji Trophy squad on the age of 14, earlier than becoming a member of the MRF Pace Foundation underneath the tutelage of M. Senthilnathan, their chief coach. It’s right here that Washington would hone his expertise as a batsman by dealing with high quality quick bowlers on fast pitches.
The grounding on the basis held him in good stead on Sunday on the Gabba, whereas negotiating three world-class pacers in Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins en path to 62.
Washington’s knock was not T20-style batting. Instead, it was a measured and calculated assault that sucked vitality from the famed Australian bowling quartet.
“It didn’t look like he was making his Test debut. He looked so calm and composed. He never looked rattled by their pacers or Nathan Lyon, their spinner. Having played on hard, bouncy tracks since he was 14 has helped him,” Senthilnathan explains.
Apart from the poise he confirmed on the crease, Washington additionally showcased the willingness to place up a combat.
Sundar narrates an incident from Washington’s childhood that exemplifies how the teenager hardly will get daunted. “He was barely 9, and days before an Under-14 inter-school match in Chennai, he got hit on his head during practice. After getting five stitches on his temple, he went to play the match the next day and scored a match-winning 39 not out. That day, I realised that he was not someone who would get fazed by challenges,” Sundar notes.
In reality, dealing with bowlers a lot older and skilled than him has been a recurrent theme in Washington’s profession. “He was barely 10 when he was already playing at the Under-14 level, and by 16 he was part of India’s Under-19 squad,” Shailaja had informed this newspaper.
While followers and cricket pundits watched Washington’s splendid rearguard in utter disbelief, again in Chennai, Sundar wasn’t notably shocked.
“People who have watched Washington in the IPL and T20s have the perception that he is an off-spinner who can bat a bit. But that’s not true. I always believe that he has tremendous potential as a batsman. In fact, I would say that he is 70 percent batsman,” Sundar says.
He remembers a WhatsApp video name he had with Washington on Saturday (on the finish of Day 2), after he bagged a three-wicket haul. “The gist of my conversation with Washi was this: ‘Your job for this match is not done. There’s batting to be done now. This is a rare opportunity, so make sure you grab it,’” he remembers.
There had been a number of glowing photographs throughout Washington’s combative knock. For Sundar, although, it was the no-look six in opposition to Lyon over the long-on boundary that stood out. “That was the shot of the day, no doubt about it. Generally, a batsman tends to follow the ball’s trajectory, but in this case, the moment the ball hit the bat, you got the sense that he had connected it perfectly. Which is why he was so confident that he just didn’t feel the need to look at it.”