On Tuesday night, the 17-year-old Washington Sundar become an overnight sensation, as he helped the Rising Pune Supergiant to enter the final of Indian Premier League 2017 with his profound bowling performance against Mumbai Indians in the Qualifier 1.
However, most of the fans feel that the youngster has a rather unique name for an Indian. For many, it has become an interesting question. And finally, the story of how he got the name was revealed by none other than his father.
During a recent interview with Hindu, M. Sundar said, “I am a Hindu and come from a very humble family. Two streets away from my home in Triplicane (Chennai) lived an ex-army man called PD Washington.”
He further added, “Washington was extremely fond of cricket and would come to watch us play at the Marina ground (in Chennai). He took a liking for my game. I was poor and he would buy the uniform for me, pay my school fee, get me books, take me to the ground in his cycle and constantly encourage me. To me he (PD Washington) was everything. He was the happiest man when I made it to the Ranji Trophy probables.”
For the record, Washington’s father played in Tamil Nadu Cricket Association’s (TNCA) first division league. Just after P.D passed away in 1999, M. Sundar’s first son was born. He said, “My wife had a difficult delivery. But the baby survived. As per the Hindu custom, I whispered a God’s name, ‘Srinivasan’ in his ear. But I decided to name him Washington in memory of the man who had done so much for me. Had I had a second son, I would have called him Washington Jr.”
On Tuesday, Washington produced a brilliant spell of spin bowling against Mumbai to take three wickets of the players like Rohit Sharma, Ambati Rayudu, and Kieron Pollard. He helped Pune to win the match by 20 runs in the first Qualifier. He was called as the replacement for injured Ravichandran Ashwin and proved his worth IPL 10.
Washington was called as the replacement for injured Ravichandran Ashwin and proved his worth IPL 10. He has taken eight wickets in ten matches of the ongoing season so far with one more match to go.
