Washington Sundar's redemption: From T20 World Cup Snub and Frustrating IPL to a Strong Comeback in Zimbabwe T20Is

Washington Sundar suffered several injury issues in recent years. He picked up a finger injury during India's tour of England in 2021, which sidelined him from the second half of the IPL that year and the T20 World Cup.

In the subsequent year of early 2022, he suffered a hamstring injury that kept him out of the T20I series against West Indies and Sri Lanka. In the same year, he injured his hand while playing for Lancashire in the Royal London One-Day Cup, which forced him to miss some matches during the tour of the Caribbean and Zimbabwe.

In 2023, he sustained a shoulder injury that affected his participation in domestic and international matches, which impacted his progress and performance as well. Moreover, he had a disappointing IPL 2024 campaign, where he played just two games for Sunrisers Hyderabad and both of those appearances came in the form of Impact Substitute.

Later on, Washington Sundar was left out of the T20 World Cup 2024 squad, which was a hard pill to swallow. Not long ago, Team India led by Rohit Sharma scripted history by beating South Africa by 7 wickets in Barbados to win the second accolade. Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja retired from T20Is following India's title triumph.

After that, India traveled all the way to Zimbabwe to play a five-match T20I series. Shubman Gill led the young side from the front. Despite losing the first game, the visitors won the remaining four games to clinch the series by 4-1.

Notably, Washington Sundar made a telling impact with the ball, wherein he took wickets when it mattered the most and also kept the batters in check. Rightly so, he was adjudged the Man of the Series. He finished the series as the joint leading wicket-taker with 8 wickets at an impressive economy of 5.16.

With Jadeja retired from this format and Axar Patel rested in Zimbabwe T20Is, Washington Sundar did make use of the overseas tour to better effect and made a real case for himself to cement his spot in Team India's T20I XI.