Indian cricketer Washington Sundar has been nominated for the ICC Player of the Month Award for July, along with England’s Gus Atkinson and Scotland’s Charlie Cassell. After many years of hard work and overcoming injuries, Washington seems to have solidified his position in international cricket. He was part of a young Indian team that traveled to Zimbabwe for a five-match T20 series. With the main players resting after winning the World Cup, the 24-year-old took the opportunity to shine and became the team’s top spin-bowling all-rounder, showing his value and living up to the expectations placed on him.
Washington was one of the few standout players in India’s surprising defeat in the first T20 match. He had impressive bowling stats of 2 wickets for 11 runs and scored 27 runs to keep the team in the game, although they ultimately lost by 13 runs while chasing a target of 115.
He was crucial in India’s recovery, assisting the team in transforming a 1-0 loss into a 4-1 series win by taking six additional wickets in the last four games. He was awarded Player of the Match in the third game for his impressive performance of 3/15 and received the Player of the Series title after tying for the most wickets (eight).
When the regular players returned for the Sri Lanka series, Washington’s participation was limited to only one match, but he took full advantage of that chance, winning the Player of the Match award after a thrilling Super Over.
At Lord’s, in a possible changing of the guard moment, Atkinson had a dazzling Test debut in what was James Anderson’s final international match.
The fast bowler had an impressive start in his first Test match, taking 12 wickets, including five in each innings. He dominated the West Indies batting lineup, achieving remarkable stats of 7 wickets for 45 runs in the first innings, forcing the visitors to be all out for only 121 runs.
The 26-year-old continued his outstanding performance with another five-wicket haul (5/61), helping England secure a victory by 114 runs in an innings win. Cassell, who had already made a mark in his ODI debut against Oman in Dundee, continued to shine.
Meanwhile, Cassell made a memorable debut, taking an impressive seven wickets (7/21) and breaking Kagiso Rabada’s nine-year-old record (6/16) for the best bowling figures on an ODI debut.
Cassell’s remarkable beginning was emphasized by taking two wickets with his first two deliveries in international cricket.
By the 18th over, the right-handed fast bowler had already taken five wickets, and he kept going to take out the last few batsmen, ending with 7 wickets for 21 runs.
Cassell’s performance was not only a record-breaking first game but also the 7th-best bowling performance in one-day international history. Only Andy Bichel, Wanindu Hasaranga, Rashid Khan, Glenn McGrath, Shahid Afridi, and Chaminda Vaas have done better.
