Washington Sundar among ICC Player of the Month nominees for July

Dubai: India all-rounder Washington Sundar has been nominated for the ICC Player of the month Award for July alongside England’s Gus Atkinson and Charlie Cassell of Scotland.

After years of perseverance and battling injuries, Washington appears to have finally established himself in international cricket.

Washington was part of a youthful Indian squad that toured Zimbabwe for a five-match T20I series. With the regular players resting after their World Cup victory, the 24-year-old stepped up and emerged as the team’s leading spin-bowling all-rounder, proving his worth and justifying the faith placed in him.

Washington was one of the few bright spots in India’s unexpected loss in the first T20I, delivering

impressive bowling figures of 2/11 and contributing 27 runs to keep the visitors in the game, though they ultimately fell 13 runs short in a chase of 115.

He played a pivotal role in India’s comeback, helping the team turn a 1-0 deficit into a 4-1 series victory by taking six more wickets across the remaining four matches. He was named Player of the Match in the third game for his outstanding figures of 3/15 and earned the Player of the Series title after finishing with the joint-most wickets (eight).

With the regulars back for the Sri Lanka series, Washington’s appearance was limited to just

one match but he made the most of that opportunity, earning the Player of the Match award following a thrilling Super Over.

In what could be a passing of the torch moment at Lord’s, Atkinson made his scintillating Test debut in what was James Anderson’s farewell international match.