Washington Sundar received a sudden call-up to join the Indian team as a replacement for Axar Patel in the Asia Cup 2023 final against Sri Lanka, held in Colombo. Sundar swiftly made his way to Colombo and seamlessly secured a spot in the Indian playing 11. This doesn’t seem coincidental and suggests that he could be the perfect candidate to fill Axar’s shoes, especially since Axar is currently at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) and is set to miss the first two matches of the IND vs AUS ODI series next week.
Similar to Axar, Washington Sundar is a left-handed batter, and India has long been on the lookout for left-handed all-rounders since the retirement of Yuvraj Singh. Sundar, who initially made his debut for India in 2017 against Sri Lanka, has developed into a matured player. He boasts an impressive record with 23 First-Class matches and 70 List-A games under his belt. In addition to his 66 wickets in the 50-over format, the Tamil Nadu all-rounder has also scored a century in First-Class cricket.
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Rohit Sharma also provided insight into why Washington Sundar was the primary choice for Team India when they needed a replacement for Axar Patel in the Asia Cup final. “Washi (Washington Sundar) was, honestly, that injury happened to Axar late in the night. We had to call a few guys to see where they are at. Washi was available and we had to get him to come and play the role. Luckily, he was with the squad in the Asian Games in Bangalore, he was bowling, he was training, and he was cricket fit. So he was spending a lot of time on the field. We had to get him,” Rohit said.
Even for the World Cup, India already have a left-arm leg-spinning Chinaman in Kuldeep Yadav and an orthodox left-arm spinner in Ravindra Jadeja. The inclusion of an off-spinner, which is often considered the most effective against powerful left-handed batters like Ben Stokes, David Warner, and David Miller, could potentially resolve India’s spin-related challenges. Therefore, Axar Patel’s injury might turn out to be a fortunate turn of events for the Indian team and for Washington Sundar.
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