Washington Sundar excited to play alongside Virat Kohli

Chennai-born Washington Sundar was a revelation in the last year’s edition of the IPL under the expert guidance of MS Dhoni and the leadership of Aussie skipper Steve Smith as his franchise Rising Pune Supergiant made their way to the finals. The young all-rounder then caught the attention of the selectors with his performances in the Tamil Nadu Premier League and made his debut in the three-match T20 series against Sri Lanka last year.

This year, the teenaged all-rounder has been picked by the Royal Challengers Bangalore for a massive sum of 3.2 crores during the auction conducted over the weekend. And after getting a chance to rub shoulders with some iconic names of the sport, Sundar was all praise for his new captain Virat Kohli and South African AB De Villiers and stated that he is eager to learn from their immense experience.

"I am delighted to have been picked up by RCB. I am a big fan of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. It will be a priceless experience to play with them after having played alongside MS Dhoni for (Rising) Pune Supergiant last year," Washington said.

"Having played with MSD in last year's IPL and imbibed a lot of good things and now I feel it will be a blessing to be in Kohli's team. I can learn a lot by watching them from close quarters," Washington, who was priced at Rs 1.5 crore, said.

Washington said that he was grateful towards the IPL as it was an important platform for him to showcase his talents and called it the ‘number one place for youngsters’. 

"I believe IPL is the No.1 tournament in the world. It is a huge platform for youngsters and has helped my son. To be able to play alongside some of the biggest names in the game at a young age is a big boost to any cricketer," the off-spinner said in an interview to PTI.

Washington played 12 first-class matches so far and scored 532 runs at a decent average of 31.29. The young player also recorded a century and two half-centuries in the 12 First-Class games he has played. Sundar has performed better the ball in first First-Class cricket and claimed 30 wickets at an average of 26.93 over 12 matches.