England’s Gus Atkinson and Scotland’s Charlie Cassell are the other nominees for the July ICC Player of the Month Award, which goes to India’s Washington Sundar.
In international cricket, Washington seems to have finally made a name for himself after years of tenacity and injury struggles.
Washington traveled to Zimbabwe for a five-match Twenty20 International series as a member of a young Indian team. The 24-year-old showed his worth and validated the faith shown in him by stepping up to lead the team in spin bowling all-round when the regular players were taking a break following their World Cup victory.
Despite falling 13 runs short of their 115-run chase, Washington was one of the few bright spots in India’s shocking defeat in the opening Twenty20 International. He bowled outstanding numbers of 2/11 and made 27 runs to keep the visitors in the match.
He was crucial to India’s turnaround, collecting six more wickets in the final four games to assist the team overcome a 1-0 lead and win the series 4-1. After finishing with the joint-most wickets (eight), he was selected Player of the Series and Player of the Match in the third game for his exceptional stats of 3/15.
Washington was only able to play in one match due to the regulars being back for the Sri Lanka series, but he made the most of it, winning Player of the Match after an exciting Super Over.
Atkinson made his brilliant Test debut in James Anderson’s final international match at Lord’s, possibly marking a passing of the torch moment.
With 12 wickets, including a five-for in every innings, the bowler created an outstanding first impression in his debut Test match. He ripped through the West Indies batting order, recording amazing first-inning figures of 7/45 and putting the visitors out for a meagre 121.
After his first-inning heroics, the 26-year-old claimed five wickets in the next over (5/61) as England won the innings by 114 runs. When Cassell played his first ODI against Oman in Dundee, he stole the show.
However, Cassell left a lasting impression by taking an incredible seven wicket haul (7/21) and shattering Kagiso Rabada’s nine-year record (6/16) for the best bowling stats on an ODI debut.
In his debut international match, Cassell took two wickets in his first two deliveries, capping a fairytale start.
The right-arm bowler took five wickets by the eighteenth over, and he went on to demolish the last few overs to finish with numbers of 7/21.
In addition to shattering records, Cassell’s performance was listed as the seventh-best bowling stats in ODI history, only surpassed by Andy Bichel, Wanindu Hasaranga, Rashid Khan, Glenn McGrath, Shahid Afridi, and Chaminda Vaas higher.
