Giving everything: Washington Sundar's mantra for continuous improvement
Player of the Series in India's T20I win over Zimbabwe in Harare, Washington Sundar reiterates the need to perform on a consistent basis if he is to feature more prominently for India.
By Daniel Beswick
Washington Sundar insists it will take continuous improvement and refinement in his all-around game to find his name in future India squads.
Sundar claimed eight wickets at an economy of just 5.16 in India's five-match tour with his off-breaks, across 18 overs of work to claim Player of the Series honours.
His 3/15 (4) with in the third T20I, pivotal in turning the series in India's favour on the way to a 4-1 win. He claimed the wickets of dangerman Sikandar Raza (15) and Johnathan Campbell (1) in the same over, before returning later in the innings to remove Clive Madande, whose 37 from 26 balls kept the hosts in the contest.
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With almost a whole T20 World Cup-winning squad sitting the tour out, and the retirement of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja from the format, a number of players on India's fringes have made the African voyage, taking a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.
The tour proves to be important in the moulding of India's team for future T20 World Cup campaigns, most notably their title defence on home soil (sharing hosting rights with Sri Lanka), with at least three spots from the successful 2024 squad up for grabs.
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Sundar, who played a key role in India's famous Test win over Australia in Brisbane to claim the Border-Gavaskar series, is yet to make an appearance in a global event in white ball cricket, but reiterates his passions and efforts continue in a bid to feature at a World Cup.
"It's a great opportunity for me to play for India. That's a great blessing for me.
"I need to be there every single day giving my 100 per cent. And that's something I have not compromised on. I've always been giving 100 per cent every season, every single practice session, and obviously in games as well.
"It keeps me just in the present and obviously it's very important to be in the present and just just put up those good performances regularly."
Washington Sundar bowling in Brisbane in India's famous Border-Gavaskar Test series win back in January 2021.
India went on to claim the series win in the fourth match, and Sundar believes the experience and lessons from the series bode well for the men in the squad learning their craft.
"Coming here to Zimbabwe and playing cricket, I think we are trying to get a lot more information about the wickets over here, (and) the conditions. We didn't really have so much information (for the first game), as much as we have now.
"Obviously there are a lot of learnings and today (in the third T20I) we played on a different wicket, so it played a lot better I would say for batting.
"It’s a great opportunity for us to keep competing with with any team that we play."