Washington Sundar excited to play against Steve Smith

Virat Kohli and his men conquered the island nation comprehensively as the men in blue performed a complete whitewash over the Sri Lankans. Boasting of a staggering 9-0 win across all formats, the Indians are now set to host the mighty Aussies in the limited over formats. The Kangaroos toured the country of India earlier this year to battle it out in a Test series. After picking up a phenomenal victory in the first Test and Pune, the Australians had to settle for a 2-1 loss in the series owing to a remarkable comeback from Virat Kohli and his men.

The series is scheduled to kick off in September with a warm up match between the Board President XI and Australia.  Chennai will host the match and the BCCI revealed the squad for the match on Friday Morning. The board also announced the fixtures of the series which is expected to be a cracker of a contest. Hemang Badani who coached TNPL’s Chepauk Super Gillies is appointed as the coach for President XI. IPL stars like Nitish Rana, Rahul Tripathi, Washington Sundar have been selected in the squad.

The Tamil Nadu duo of Washington Sundar and Raahil Shah are eager to take on Australia. The youngsters believe that the call up came as a reward for their valiant display in the domestic circuit. Raahil had picked up 22 wickets in 12 matches at an economy of 4.24 in the limited-overs tournaments like Deodhar Trophy and Vijay Hazare.

What Sundar said:

Washington Sundar announced himself in the 10th edition of the iconic Indian Premier League in style. The bowler played alongside Aussie skipper Steve Smith and was effective for the team. The bowler was successful in picking up wickets at regular intervals putting an end to important partnerships. The off spinner is keen on Steve Smith and is looking forward to the challenge.

“I’m glad to have got this opportunity. I have played a lot with Smith in the IPL with Pune. Now, I’m looking forward to playing against him. I’m also happy that people are looking at the performances from the Vijay Hazare and Deodhar Trophy,” Sundar told Cricbuzz.

Speaking about the issue Raahil said “I was dropped from the Ranji playing XI after two games last season. I worked extremely hard on my fitness and bowling when I was on the sidelines. I see this selection as recognition for my performances in the last limited-overs tournaments. Also winning the title as a team will always open up more opportunities like these for our team players.”.

Board President XI squad: Rahul Tripathi, Mayank Agarwal, Shivam Chaudhary, Nitish Rana, Govind Poddar, Gurkeerat Mann, Shreevats Goswami, Akshay Karnewar, Kulwan Khejroliya, Krushang Patel, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Sharma, Washington Sundar, Rahil Shah.

Coach: Hemang Badani