IPL 2020 | Glad Virat Kohli has shown confidence in me to bowl during powerplay, expresses Washington Sundar
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With five wickets in seven games, Washington Sundar has expressed his happiness over Virat Kohli showing confidence in him to bowl during the first six overs. Washington also has credited MS Dhoni for helping him evolve as a cricketer and a bowler during his time with Rising Pune Supergiant.
After having a breakthrough season in 2017 with the Rising Pune Supergiant outfit, Washington Sundar has come a long way in becoming one of the starters for Royal Challengers Bangalore. Until the end of the 2019 season, the off-spinner had just made 10 appearances for the Bangalore franchise, picking up eight wickets. While he wasn’t the first-choice spinner on the list, his form this season has turned all the eyeballs to his side, as he has picked up five wickets this season.
It might seem like a below-par figure for a spinner but it turns impressive once you realise that the off-spinner is primarily used by Virat Kohli in the first six overs of the innings. Ahead of their contest against Kings XI Punjab, the off-spinner has expressed that he’s glad to have earned Virat Kohli’s confidence to bowl in the powerplay.
“I’m glad that Virat has shown so much confidence in me and thrown balls at me during the Powerplay and other crucial junctures of the game. For a finger spinner, captain’s confidence is extremely important,” Sundar explained, reported Hindustan Times.
While Kohli has exploited the Tamil Nadu spinner’s bowling abilities, his batting ability has not yet come to the fore, with just 57 runs in the 48 balls that he has faced. However, the southpaw is confident of proving his worth with the willow as well, with an eye to step up and win games for the franchise.
“I think from a batsman point of view while bowling that has kept me going and guessing. I would love to win a game for RCB with the bat. I’ve been focusing on my batting. When the opportunities come, I should be able to step and perform.”
His first stint in the IPL interestingly came for an RPS side, which had MS Dhoni as one of their star players. Recalling his stint with the franchise, he admitted that it was Dhoni who helped him evolve as a cricketer and since then, he has been constantly learning and evolving, with RCB now.
“The fact that I played in RPS under Mahi bhai helped me evolve as a cricketer and since then I have been learning and evolving as a bowler as well,” Sundar concluded.
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