Why does Washington Sundar wear jersey number 555?

Rising Pune Supergiant were up against the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 24th match of IPL 2017, it was a crucial game for them facing the defending champions and they were coming in with a new strategy to bring about a change. They added off-spinner Washington Sundar to the mix as he became the third youngest IPL debutant at the age of 17 and was his first exposure to the shortest format of the game at professional level.

He wasn’t a part of the Pune team from the onset but was brought in as a replacement for senior Tamil Nadu state mate Ravichandran Ashwin who was advised rest keeping in mind his workload, the upcoming Champions Trophy challenge and also the sports hernia.

Impressive debut

In his very first game, he didn’t get wickets but was impressive with the lines he bowled and the control he displayed against the likes of David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan bowling well within the power plays. As the tournament progressed he matured as a bowler and enhanced his game subjecting the batsmen to cracking pressure holding them at one end and picking wickets.

Sundar was coming into the IPL having grabbed a lot of attention with his bowling for the Indian U19 team, the Tamil Nadu unit in the Vijay Hazare Trophy as well as the Deodhar Trophy where he played a crucial part in the team’s title success.

He wears a jersey with 555 on the back and one might wonder how did he arrive at the figure. When he was asked about the same, he revealed that it was derived from his date and time of birth. Sundar was born on the 5th of October at 5:05 am.

“I was born on 5th of October at 5:05 AM. So, I decided to go with 555 as my kit number,” Washington told Sportskeeda in an exclusive chat.

His team RPS went all the way to the final in the tournament and he played all the matches after making his debut against SRH. Tournament figures of 11 matches and 8 wickets at an average of 23.12 wouldn’t do justice to his effort but his best bowling show of 3/16 against Mumbai Indians in the first Qualifier tells you he isn’t bogged by the big match or while bowling against the big names as his scalps were Rohit Sharma, Kieron Pollard and Ambati Rayudu.

In the final the opponent were cautious and preferred to play him out, his four overs though didn’t yield his team a wicket but more importantly cost just 13 runs, the cheapest bowling figures by a bowler in the IPL final.

Sundar isn’t a big turner of the ball but moves it just enough to deceive the batsmen who are constantly looking to score against him. For now, he wants to focus on the off-spinners and wants to get wickets with his stalk delivery and isn’t really keen on trying the variations just yet. The upcoming domestic season will test the teenager and also give him a chance to make a more memorable impression.