Rising Pune Supergiant seeking a replacement for Ravichandran Ashwin

Jammu and Kashmir all-rounder Parvez Rasool and Tamil Nadu’s young lad Washington Sundar have been called to attend a trial with the Rising Pune Supergiant team. Both players will vie for a spot in the RPS squad in order to replace ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.

Parvez Rasool represented India in a T20I against England this year. He made his debut against Bangladesh in Dhaka three years ago, but hasn’t featured much in the Indian team. Although being a part of 4 IPL tournaments now, Rasool has only been given 11 games and hasn’t had much to show for in the wickets column. He went unsold in this year’s auction after the Royal Challengers Bangalore released him.

On the other hand, the 17-year-old right arm spinner from Tamil Nadu Washington Sundar grabbed attention with his consistent performances during the Vijay Hazare and Deodhar Trophy tournaments. Sundar picked up a total of 7 wickets in 9 matches that he played and had an impressive economy rate of 3.8.

The youngster from Tamil Nadu was also part of the India U-19 team which took part in the ICC Under-19 World Cup in 2014. He was also part of the team in the 2016 Under-19 World Cup which saw India lose to the West Indies in the final.

“Rasool and Washington are expected to attend a trial with Pune tomorrow. Rasool has experience, while Washington is young and impressive. Both have been amongst the wickets in the recently concluded List A tournaments and that has probably earned them this opportunity,” a team source reported to the Times of India.

Ashwin is part of a list of injured Indian players who will miss either part or the entirety of this year’s IPL. RPS have already suffered a blow in the form of Mitchell Marsh who was sidelined due to a shoulder injury. The franchise hence roped in South Africa’s Imran Tahir to replace the injured Australian all-rounder.

Both Rasool and Washington will look to step into the big shoes of Ashwin as India’s premier off-spinner has been ruled out of the 2017 IPL with a sports hernia.