Washington Sundar Wants To "Keep Improving" After Impressive Return In 1st ODI vs West Indies

Washington Sundar has had to endure a painful five months away from the game due to a finger injury but the lanky Tamil Nadu off-spinner in his own admission, used the time off to get better as a cricketer as that was all he could control. Washington missed out on the T20 World Cup but Ravichandran Ashwin's underwhelming show in white-ball games and subsequent ouster brought him back in the mix as he made his international return with 3/30 against West Indies in first ODI. "There were a lot of challenges but I just wanted to do what I could do to improve myself as a cricketer. That's all that's in my control and I was only focussing on that," Washington said at post-match press conference.

Washington has understood in past two years that there would be roadblocks now and then but he will have to create his own mechanism to counter the issues. He first missed the T20 World Cup in UAE where he was a sure-shot starter and then COVID-19 played truant when he was about to board the flight to South Africa.

"Yes, there will always be challenges, that's something that I have realised especially in the last couple of years.

"But what matters is how I push myself, keep getting better at the aspects that I want to and keep improving myself. I've tried to focus on it," the young spinner elaborated.

Washington said there are two World Cups coming up, one T20 later this year and the ODI World Cup in 2023 and his focus will remain on those.

"It was very, very disappointing to have lost out on a chance to play the World Cup. But yes, there are two World Cups in the next 15-16 months, so that should be my focus." Now that he is back, Washington knows that more games that he plays, better and sharper he will become.

"More than anything, I