All-rounder Washington Sundar’s father, Mr. Mani Sundar, has accused Indian selectors of bias and favoritism against his son. He believes that, unlike other players who ‘get regular chances’, only Washington gets dropped even after good performances, while also missing selections when he deserves to play.
The comments come soon after Sundar’s match-saving century at Old Trafford. He came to bat at a time when the team had lost two set batters in KL Rahul and Shubman Gill in quick succession, on a tricky pitch, with England still threatening an innings defeat on the final day. He smashed 101 off 206 balls, in an unbeaten 203-run stand alongside Ravindra Jadeja to see off over three hours of play, forcing England to offer a draw.
“Washington has been doing very well consistently," Mr. Sundar said in an interview with The Times of India. “However, people tend to avoid and forget his performances. Other players get regular chances, only my son doesn’t get them. Washington should consistently bat at number five like he did in the second innings of the fourth Test and get five to ten straight chances. My son was surprisingly not picked for the first Test against England. The selectors should watch his performances," he added.
“My son gets dropped even if he fails in just one or two matches. It is not fair. Washington scored an unbeaten 85 on a rank turner in Chennai against England back in 2021 and 96* against the same opposition in Ahmedabad during the same year. He would have been dropped even if those two knocks had ended up in centuries. Has this kind of an approach been maintained for any other Indian cricketer? He has become very strong after all this and the result is the performance which people are witnessing now," the senior Sundar said.
Sundar got picked in all three Tests after the first. Though his batting returns remained sub-par in the first two, he was excellent with the ball, including with a brilliant four-wicket haul at Lord’s in the third match.
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Mr. Sundar also took a dig at the Gujarat Titans for not giving him regular chances — he played just six of the team’s 15 matches.
“Even his current team (GT) don’t give him regular chances. He showcased his calibre in the IPL 2025 Eliminator against Mumbai Indians (MI), smashing 48 off 24 balls. Look at the way Yashasvi Jaiswal has been backed by RR. Washington hasn’t been able to enjoy a consistent run even in case of domestic cricket," he added.
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