It was a dream come true for young all-rounder Washington Sundar, who produced a brilliant show with bat and ball to seal India Red’s 163-run victory over India Blue in the Duleep Trophy final at the Ekana International Cricket Stadium here on Thursday.
The tall Sundar, 17, who hails from Chennai, was on target from Day 1 of the five-day final for Dinesh Karthik’s team, and never allowed the rivals to dictate terms in batting or bowling.
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“It’s a great turnaround in my career, and I always wanted to make my debut in Duleep Trophy very special,” Sundar told Hindustan Times after receiving the Man-of-the-Match award. “I didn’t care about the kind of opposition, and remained focused on my basics both in batting and bowling.”
Dubbed as a copy of Ravichandran Ashwin, Sundar, who notched up best match figures for a Duleep Trophy debutant by claiming 11/181, admitted it was a big game and enjoying success was something that was very special to him.
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{{/usCountry}}Sundar bettered the record of pace bowler Pandurang Salgaoncar, who had claimed 10/111 in 1972-73. Irfan Pathan (10/146 -- 2001-02) and Kamlesh Makwana (10/220 -- 2012-13) had also taken 10 wickets on Duleep Trophy debut.
“I always want to contribute in all departments of the game in the team’s victory and this final turned out to be like that. It will remain a special achievement in my life,” said Sundar, who will celebrate his 18th birthday on October 5.
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India Red skipper Dinesh Karthik hailed the all-round performance of Sundar. “It’s a great performance by a young cricketer like Sundar, who made this final very special for all of us,” said Karthik, the former India wicketkeeper-batsman.