‘He’s one for the future, boss. Can be like Hardik Pandya': Ex-India cricketer's lavish praise for Washington Sundar

Former India cricketer Laxman Sivaramakrishnan heaped praise on India all-rounder Washington Sundar, predicting a bright future for the youngster. Ever since making his comeback to the Indian side from the New Zealand tour, Sundar has been one of India's top-performing all-rounders. He played a blazing cameo in the first ODI and then backed that up with a fifty in the third match. In the Bangladesh ODIs, he has been brilliant with the ball, picking up wickets at will but the left-hander would be slightly disappointed with his batting performances in both the ODIs.

Sivaramakrishnan called the Tamil Nadu cricketer 'one for the future' and said how big an international career Sundar has will depend on how the Indian team management nurtures him.

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"Washington Sundar is the one for the future, boss. He can bat in any condition. You can depend on him to get runs. In fact, he can bat at No.5, maybe No.6. He can be somebody like Hardik Pandya. Once he is set, he can score at a pretty good strike rate. He is a very efficient player and can stabilise things in the middle order. He is capable of bowling 10 overs economically but he needs to work on his wicket-taking mindset. He is a genuine all-rounder. It's how you nurture him that will decide his future in the Indian side," he said in a select-media interaction organised by Sony Sports Network.

Sivaramakrishnan compared Sundar with Hardik Pandya and said both of them can add a lot of depth to the Indian unit. “If you call Hardik Pandya the seam bowling all-rounder, we need to call Washington Sundar from here on as a spin bowling all-rounder," said Sivaramakrishnan.

The former India leg-spinner said India should preserve a talent like Sundar. “Both of them would fit in really well because they can both bat and bowl as well. One of them can be used as the fifth bowling option or they can even share ten overs because they can contribute with the bat as well. Washington Sundar is a treasure we have unearthed and we need to preserve and make it mature,”

The former India leg-spinner also pointed out Sundar's knock against Australia in Brisbane on his Test debut. The tall all-rounder rescued India with a 121-run stand for the seventh wicket with SHardul Thakur. Sundar scored 62 as India finished with 336 in their first innings from 186 for 6. Sundar did this after he had picked up three crucial wickets including that of Steve Smith in Australia's first innings. India went on to register a famous win to register back-to-back Test series wins on Australian soil.

Former CSK batter Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan also backed Sundar to come good in futute. “He's fine cricketer and his game will only improve as he gets more experienced at the international level,” he said.

[Watch the LIVE coverage of Bangladesh vs India - 3rd ODI on SONY SPORTS TEN 5 (English) SONY SPORTS TEN 3 (Hindi) & SONY SPORTS TEN 4 (Tamil & Telugu) channels on 10th December 2022 from 12:30 AM]