India played England in their 3rd match of the series and while India shared a healthy lead of 2-0 coming in to the game, a lot was riding on them to be able to finish off on top. Unfortunately, that was not the case as England ended up beating India by 26 runs. The only change that was made to their playing 11 was Mohammed Shami, who came in place of Arshdeep Singh. This probably due to the fact that management wanted him to get some reps before the Champions Trophy and also because he hasn’t played a international match for the country since the 2023 ODI World Cup. Washington Sundar had a golden opportunity during the game as he came in when the Indian side was down 4 wickets for 68 runs. However things did not go in their favor as he ended up getting out for a whopping 6 runs after facing 15 balls. Shortly after, the young all-rounder from Tamil Nadu drew heavy criticism for his lack of ability to get going at any point during his innings. He also had a contribution with the ball with bowling one over and almost conceding 15 runs in that over alone. It’s a rather weird turn of events for Sundar considering his showing out party in the Border Gavaskar series against Australia, where he even took 7 wickets in one innings. Sundar’s lack of experience in the t20 format of the game can contribute to his lack of aggression and comfortability, especially since he still doesn’t have a team that he’s consistently playing for in the IPL so far.
Who are some other options than Sundar in the t20 format of the game?
Although the future looks a bit grim for the young phenom in t20s, he without doubt will be given more opportunities throughout the rest of the year leading up to the 2026 T20 World Cup next year, because India would love to have him be a all-format caliber player. If for some reason he does not pan out, there are indeed some other options for India to turn to. In fact there would be three players in particular who could probably get the nod ahead of him even at this present moment of time, those three players would be Shivam Dube, Nitesh Kumar Reddy and Riyan Parag. All of whom had their own successes over the past year. Dube was a apart of the t20 world cup squad last year and played a lot of matches during the tenure of the tournament. While his performances weren’t absolutely amazing, he did play his role of being able to contribute with the bat down the order. The only knock here is if he is considered a legitimate all-rounder than he will have to start bowling more and that has not been the case internationally or in the IPL and at 30+ years old, he may not offer a lot in terms of the future when it comes to being a complete all-rounder in this format of the game. Nitesh Kumar Reddy has sparked a lot of controversy amongst fans and pundits world wide due to his innate ability to handle pressure as well as be able to accelerate his innings when he’s asked to. One of his best knocks so far came again in the Border Gavaskar Trophy series, where he posted a century when India had their backs against the wall and were under tremendous pressure. Reddy also has a excellent track record with the bat in the IPL already despite only being 21 years old. He may just be the prospect that the country was looking for and may be considered to be a all-format player of the future as an all-rounder. Lastly Riyan Parag would be another option and he first made his debut for the country against Sri Lanka last year. Incredibly enough, he was touted to be more of a middle-order batsman, but was mainly recognized for his ability to pick up wickets in that series. He had a outstanding performance in the IPL last year and looks to be a contender for a all-rounder position in one of the three formats of the game or maybe even all three one day. There was a lot of speculation of him being the next “golden arm” for India and that was a title once held by Suresh Raina, so it is indeed some pretty big shoes to fill if fans expect him to live up to those types of expectations moving forward. Something that should be pointed out is that India have been playing with 2 wickets-keepers on the side with Jurel and Samson so far in the series. That clearly won’t be what management would like to do down the road and so it is completely reasonable to think that India may be looking to reserve those spots for some quality players. As of right now, the number 1-4 positions are set with Abishek, Samson, SKY and Varma. This leaves 5 positions available assuming India only plays 2-3 pure bowlers. Two of which of course will go to Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel and the other two to three positions probably having a mix starting from Rinku Singh and two of three all-rounders mentioned earlier. A lineup potentially looking like this:
Future XI
Sanju Samson
Abishek Sharma
SKY
Tilak Varma
Nitesh Kumar Reddy
Hardik Pandya
Rinku Singh
Shivam Dube/Riyan Parag/Varun Chakravarthy/Ravi Bishnoi
Axar Patel
Arshdeep Singh
Jasprit Bumrah
Nitesh Kumar Reddy typically plays in the middle order, so he may be looked at as an option either before or after Hardik Pandya if he is included. Having a player like Dube, NKR or Parag adds more of a power-hitting dimension to this lineup that it may not have without them. Power-hitting is definitely a crucial aspect of t20s and adding two of these three or even one of them can prove to be vital. There maybe a bit of doubt of having Dube or Parag play so down in the order, but having their presence on the team can allow them to be very versatile altogether.
What will the future hold for Washington Sundar in t20s?
With all things being said and considered, if Sundar does want to carve out a role in the lineup then he will have to understand his role moving forward. So far with the bat, he doesn’t offer any power-hitting ability or any consistency with scoring runs. For now his lack of ability makes him more of a project and he may need a couple more months or years to develop into the player India wants him to be. That will also depend on his future in the IPL as that can carry over major implications of his consistency or knack to perform in big-time scenarios.
Should India look to pivot from Washington Sundar in t20s or continue to develop him?