How did 17-year-old Washington Sundar get his name?

The fans no longer have to wait for and ponder how the 17-year-old got his name.

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Washington Sundar of Rising Pune Supergiant
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Washington Sundar of Rising Pune Supergiant celebrates. (Photo: IANS)

17-year-old off-spinner, Washington Sundar has turned the world around on his feet with his performance against the Mumbai Indians. The teenage sensation has replaced fellow Tamil Nadu offie Ravichandran Ashwin in the squad after the latter was ruled out of the tournament following his injury.

The off-spinner with his performance against the Mumbai Indians became the youngest player to claim the Man of the Match award ahead of the likes of Manoj Tiwary and MS Dhoni. Although his bowling and batting have revealed the mystery around his performance, his name is still a mystery for all the Indians.

The mystery was how can a person from Tamil Nadu belonging to a Hindu family have a name called Washington, and many a guess was that his father would have been influenced by the president and so on. The guesses were partially correct as his father M Sundar has revealed that his name is in honor of his godfather Mr P.D Washington

Speaking to The Hindu, Washington’s father said: “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.”

And that relationship with him convinced Sundar that he had to name his son Washington to honor the man who introduced him to the game.

“I was poor and he would buy 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 was everything. He was the happiest man when I made it to the Ranji probables,” Sundar added.

Soon after Washington passed away in 1999, Sundar’s first son was born. “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.”

Washington Sundar’s father too made it the Tamil Nadu probable for the Ranji Trophy, although he could not make the cut for the tournament.

Batsmen might still be struggling to decipher the web that Washington has spun so far in this year’s tournament, but the fans no longer have to wait for and ponder how the 17-year-old got his name.

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