Rising Pune Supergiant’s young spinner Washington Sundar has impressed one and all with his outstanding display of spin bowling. The 17-year old youngster from Chennai has bowled during pressure situations for Pune and delivered at the big stage.
Sundar was Pune’s with the ball in the first qualifier of IPL 2017 on May 16 at Wankhede Stadium. He took 3 Mumbai Indians (MI) wickets. Sundar was awarded ‘man of the match’ for his performance as he played a big role for Pune on the big day.
However, even before Washington Sundar bowled a single delivery in IPL 2017, he was already very popular. And the reason was, his unusual name. While speaking to The Hindu, Washington’s father revealed the story behind his unique name.
“I am a Hindu and come from a very humble family. Two streets away from my home in Triplicane lived an ex-army man called P.D. Washington. Washington was extremely fond of cricket and would come to watch us play at the Marina ground. He took a liking for my game,” Washington’s father was quoted as saying by The Hindu.
Sundar’s father also told that it was in the year 1999 that his biggest admirer Washington passed away and a few months later (October 5), Sundar couple had their first child.
“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,” Sundar said.
