The set-up to dismiss Darren Bravo in the series opener in Ahmedabad was an impressive example of Washington Sundar’s nous and improvement into a more crafty off-spinner than he is given credit for. Sundar started with a classy off-break that gripped and turned sharply due to his natural speed and tall stature that generates bounce. […]
The set-up to dismiss Darren Bravo in the series opener in Ahmedabad was an impressive example of Washington Sundar’s nous and improvement into a more crafty off-spinner than he is given credit for.
Sundar started with a classy off-break that gripped and turned sharply due to his natural speed and tall stature that generates bounce. Very new to the crease, that was a ball that immediately unsettled Bravo and got him playing into the bowler’s plan.
For a good part of his next three overs leading into the wicket ball, Sundar focused on dragging Bravo further towards the off-stump by bowling wide, making him fend his bat with the head falling minimally but enough to get the frontfoot going across by those crucial inches.
Once he had his man completely falling into the trap, Washington Sundar delivered the sucker punch, bowling a skiddy, flattish short ball that went straight with the arm and pinned Bravo in front of the stumps to be deemed out LBW by the DRS.
It isn’t that this set-up was something out of the ordinary – off-spinners has been doing this to left-handers for ages – but in Sundar’s case, it reflected a notable transition from the bowler he once was to the bowler he is becoming now.
Washington Sundar has developed into an upskilled white-ball bowler than when he started. (pic courtesy: Twitter)
It begs belief today, certainly when he plays white-ball cricket in IPL and for India, that Sundar began his career as more of a batting allrounder than a bowling allrounder, with a solid base to his batting but an underdeveloped power-hitting game.
His first big breakthrough in the IPL arrived because of his bowling, not batting. When he replaced R Ashwin in Rising Pune Supergiants for IPL 2017, for those who had seen him play the U-19 World Cup an year earlier, it felt as if he is coming on board as a curious batting replacement for a veteran bowler.
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But Sundar proved a catalyst to RPSG’s run till the final by delivering consistent tight spells despite bowling number of his overs in the powerplay. He took 8 wickets over 11 innings that season but his economy rate was only 6.16. Couple of months early, he had given 3.27 runs per over across six matches in Tamil Nadu’s successful surge towards the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Back then, Washington Sundar would dart the ball in with pace at hard lengths and make it tough for batters to line him up. That is an area of strength that has remained integral to his game, what has changed is that he is not just a darter anymore. Sundar now rolls his fingers across the seam, allows the ball to grip and bite the surface and finds more turn off the surface than he ever did.
The transition into a more robust bowler, along with his natural strengths – the height, the speed and hard lengths – has allowed the 22-year-old to retain a wood over batters for longer than expected. His last proper season with RCB in 2020 was even better than his tryst with RPSG in 2017, as he had an economy of 5.96 over 15 matches. Usually, for spinners that burst onto the scene, the trajectory works the other way around. The more versed batters get about their art, the greater a dip gets seen in their numbers.
An integral member of the T20I set-up, Washington Sundar’s constantly upskilled game has now also made him a genuine contender to be a long-term fifth-bowling option in ODIs. The ODI playing conditions are more anti-fingerspin than ever but the role of the fifth-bowler isn’t exactly to overcome those hurdles and build inroads into batting units. It is to be as miserly as he possibly could while playing a bridge that offers the right balance between the two departments. Sundar seems a perfect fit for this role with his accuracy and consistency.
When Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja return, India would directly slot them back as one combined fifth-bowler that dually take care of the power-hitting duties as well. But while Hardik with his power-hitting game would seem an ideal plug at No.6 whenever he is fit, there maybe a case to further examine whether Jadeja is offering enough with the ball? If that works in the negative for the left-arm spinner, who has bowled his overs with a workeable economy rate of 5.01 since his comeback to the ODI side in 2018 but has averaged 44.33 for his wickets, India may consider bringing in Sundar for his potentially greater leash on run-scoring and upskilled wicket-taking ways.
Any such consideration, however, would have to also account for how much the two offer with the bat in hand at this stage. Unlike Jadeja, Sundar doesn’t hold his own as a limited-overs batter for now. In the last two IPL seasons, Jadeja has shown greater range as a power-hitter, striking at 157.73 while averaging 57.37 for CSK. His most recent ODI in Canberra saw him blaze a critical 66 not out off 50 balls after walking in with India 152 for 5. For all the class, the solidity and languid nature of Sundar’s batting in Tests, his power-hitting game hasn’t shown an upward curve in the IPL: he has a strike-rate of 111.28 over 42 games.
That, perhaps is Sundar’s next big challenge. To also take his limited-overs batting to the next level while ensuring he remains fit and continues to outlast batters at the crease with the ball. It would make him a more attractive commodity to the selectors and the management in months leading upto next year’s World Cup. The next big transition to embark upon for this young gun, who began as a promising batter but has transformed himself into one of the world’s brightest white-ball prospects with the ball in hand.
