Washington Sundar, Ravichandran Ashwin join forces to make it a red-letter day for Tamil Nadu cricket

Chennai: October 24, 2024, will undoubtedly go down as a red-letter day in Tamil Nadu cricket history as two ‘sons of the soil’ joined forces to bag all 10 wickets for India in a Test innings.
On the opening day of the second match in Pune on Thursday, the returning Washington Sundar ran through the New Zealand middle and lower-order with a personal-best seven-wicket haul after fellow off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin removed the top-three.
The masterclass from Washington and Ashwin effectively made it a mini contest between TN and NZ, with the finger spinners from the southern region of the country emerging well on top in the end. The ‘brothers of destruction’ brought huge cheer to everyone associated with cricket in TN, a state that has a history of producing fine slow bowlers.
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“It was fantastic to see two off-spinners from TN combine to pick up all 10 wickets in an innings. Washington was a surprise element; no one would have expected him to pick up seven wickets. It is a great thing for him as well as TN cricket. When it comes to Ashwin, he has been consistently doing well and is expected to be among the wickets,” M Venkataramana, former India off-break bowler and TN head coach, told TOI.
With pride swelling in his voice, M Senthilnathan, a former TN player who coaches MRF Globe Trotters SC – the TNCA first-division team which Washington plays for – said: “Washington can be a lethal weapon with the ball on turning tracks. Washington and Ashwin have shown in this Test that they can play together. The TN guys did it (10 wickets) together. They bowled NZ out.”
As Ashwin is at the twilight of his glorious career, the selectors and management are busy finding an able successor for the maestro. Washington fits the bill and has made a strong case on his Test comeback.
Asked if Washington can be a like-for-like replacement for Ashwin after the latter hangs up his boots, Venkataramana said: “So far, he has proved himself in white-ball cricket. In international red-ball cricket, this is the first time he has performed so well with the ball. He has to keep improving. He has to work harder to have the skills to bowl well on good batting tracks. If he does that, he will be very good in the future. His past experience in the India team will help.”
Senthilnathan said that Washington has the wherewithal to operate in a spin-heavy attack. “He will be a star performer for India in the years to come. Ashwin has been doing very well. There is an option to play both of them. If Ashwin continues to play like this, why not have both of them in the XI? When we can play two left-arm spinners in the XI, why cannot we have two right-arm off-spinners in the team?”