3 reasons why Washington Sundar no longer fits into India's white-ball plans
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Washington Sundar last featured in the IRE vs IND 1st T20I.
Washington Sundar is among the few all-format players in the Indian team currently. He has been picked in India‘s Test, ODI, and T20I squads consistently for the past few years.
Sundar played his first international game at the age of 18. He has been around the Indian setup ever since 2017, and more so regularly in the past half-decade.
The 26-year-old has played 32 ODIs and 61 T20Is so far. In T20Is, he has claimed 51 wickets, with an average of 24, and an economy of just over 7. Whereas in ODIs, he has 30 wickets to his name, with an average of 30 and an economy under 5.
As a batter, he got an opportunity to bat only in 26 T20I innings, where he scored 274 runs with an average of 16 and a strike rate of 130. In ODIs, he scored 391 runs in 21 innings, with an average of 21.
The spin-bowling all-rounder has not been used to his full potential by the team management so far. He rarely manages to bowl his full quota of overs and also bats quite low down the order, where he has to play the role of a ‘finisher’—something that goes against his natural game.
On that note, let’s take a look at the three major reasons why Washington Sundar is not a good prospect for Team India in white-ball cricket.
The role definition puzzle
A question that remains is whether Washington Sundar is a bowling all-rounder capable of playing some good shots, or a batting all-rounder who can bowl a few overs.
This puzzle arises because neither Sundar completes his quota of overs in a match, nor is he sent in to bat in the middle order. In the majority of the T20I matches he has played, he has not bowled his full quota of overs.
Moreover, Sundar is naturally not a power-hitter, but is sent to bat in the lower middle order at No. 7 or 8. India have lost several matches due to Sundar’s inability to finish games.
Several spinners rank ahead of him
Sundar bowls right-arm off-spin. He has often been chosen as the second-choice spinner in the playing XI. When he gets to bowl in the middle overs, he has often failed to take wickets. Especially because of his inability to take wickets in the middle overs, he lags significantly behind genuine spinners.
Bowlers like Kuldeep Yadav, Harsh Dubey, and Ravi Bishnoi are genuine wicket-takers, yet Sundar has been included in the playing 11 due to his batting ability. One such instance was when India dropped vice-captain Axar Patel from a T20 World Cup match to accommodate Washington Sundar.
If India want wickets in the 11-40 overs phase of ODIs, and 7-14 in T20Is, they need to pick proper bowlers who can take wickets at will. Sundar is not someone who can strike fear into the opposition. Apart from that, he hasn’t been able to do anything significant with the bat so far either.
He cannot be the first-choice finisher for India
In T20Is and ODIs, the left-handed batsman usually plays at No. 7 or lower, a position designated for a finisher. His natural game cannot hit powerful shots right from the very first ball and win matches for India through power-hitting.
There are a lot of players who can replace him in that aspect of the game, like Vipraj Nigam, Anukul Roy, Suryansh Shedge and some such. They have brute force and batting prowess for quickfire knocks in the death overs.
Sundar batted at No. 4 for the Gujarat Titans in IPL 2026 and scored 377 runs in 16 innings, at a strike rate of 150. He even had three half-centuries in the 2026 edition. This is a fine campaign, but the focus needs to be on the position where he bats.
There remains a mystery regarding Washington Sundar’s place in India’s white-ball plans. More than his own abilities, the main emphasis should be on the usage of his skill set. The 26-year-old is a good option for India in Tests, but he still needs to do a lot of work in white-ball cricket.
How many runs did Washington Sundar score in the IPL 2026?
Washington Sundar scored 377 runs in the IPL 2026 playing for the Gujarat Titans.
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Cricket runs in the blood of Indians — and that’s something she truly believes in. A law student with a lifelong connection to the game, she has followed cricket passionately since his school days. Like countless young fans, she first experienced the sport on the field before deepening his understanding through constant watching, reading, and conversations around the game. Writing became a natural extension of that passion, bringing a “Pavilion Perspective” to his work — capturing how fans experience matches through their own lens.