Washington Sundar was born in a Tamil Hindu family on 5 October 1999 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.[5] He was named by his father Mani Sundar in honour of a man named P.D. Washington, who had sponsored the elder Sundar's cricket passion.[6][7] His sister Shailaja Sundar (also known as M. S. Shailaja) is also a professional cricketer.[8][9] He started playing cricket from the age of four or five.[10] He received his early education from St. Bede's Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School.[11] and completed an undergraduate degree from the Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science, Chennai.[citation needed]
In 2017, he was selected by Rising Pune Supergiant as a replacement for Ravichandran Ashwin. He made his Twenty20 debut for Rising Pune Supergiants in the 2017 Indian Premier League on 22 April 2017.[14] He had received the Player of the Match award in the first qualifier played between Mumbai Indians and Pune Supergiants, in which he took 3 wickets for 16 runs.
In November 2017, Sundar was named in India's Twenty20 International squad for their series against Sri Lanka.[19] Earlier, he was also added to India's One Day International (ODI) squad for the same series, after Kedar Jadhav suffered a hamstring injury.[20] He made his ODI debut for India against Sri Lanka on 13 December 2017,[21] his first international wicket being that of Lahiru Thirimanne. He then made his T20I debut for India against Sri Lanka on 24 December 2017.[22] At the age of 18 years and 80 days, he became the youngest player to debut for India in T20Is.[23]
In March 2018, Sundar was selected in India's squad for the 2018 Nidahas Trophy against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. He was praised by many for his economical bowling inside the powerplay at an economy of less than 6 runs an over. During the series, he bagged a maiden 3-wicket haul, making him the youngest T20I player to do so. He was named the Player of the Series for his performance.[24] He then became a regular member of the Indian T2OI team.[25]
Sundar was initially picked for India's 2020-21 Australia tour only as a net bowler. However, injuries to fellow bowlers and the inability for India to fly in replacements at short notice due to quarantine restrictions in effect during the COVID-19 pandemic, saw him win an unexpected first Test cap[26] on 15 January, in the final Test match of the series at The Gabba.[27] His first Test wicket was Steve Smith, and he scored 62 in his first Test innings in a crucial seventh wicket partnership of 123 with Shardul Thakur which kept India from facing a huge first innings deficit and contributed greatly to India's eventual victory in the Test.[28] With his maiden Test fifty, Sundar became the third Indian to score a half-century on Test debut in Australia.[29]
In October 2024, Sundar picked his maiden ten-wicket haul in test cricket against New Zealand.
