Over the last couple of Test series that the Indian cricket team has been a part of, a major takeaway for the fans has been the surprising rise of Washington Sundar as a batting expert against the red-ball.

Stunning home and away spectators with his staggering debut against the Australian side at the Brisbane Cricket Ground while delivering a match-saving innings, Sundar quickly established himself as a top replacement man for injured top-tier stars and is making a strong case for becoming a regular part of the Team India rotation.

And despite his prowess with the bat in the last match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and the first innings of the Chepauk Test versus England, most of his fans seem to be fixated on his unique name, something even his teammate Rishabh Pant ended up casually making fun of recently.

"Mera naam hai Washington, Mereko jana hai DC"
- Poet Rishabh Pant#INDvENG #Pant #ViratKohli #Kohli #RishabhPant #Root #Rahane pic.twitter.com/QBmuSMUNp3

To scratch the fans’ itch about the reasons behind the 21-year-old’s name, Washington’s father finally opened up and told a really interesting story which makes the name hold a lot more value than any other name possibly could have for the family.

“I am a Hindu and come from a very humble family. Two streets away from my home in Triplicane lived an ex-army man called PD Washington. Washington was extremely fond of cricket and would come to watch us play at the Marina ground. He took a liking for my game,” said M Sundar as quoted by the Twelfth Man Times.

Unable to afford things like books and school fees for himself, Sundar received a lot of financial support from PD Washington and played a crucial role in the kind of education and training he received during his childhood days.

PD Washington breathed his last back in 1999, the very year Sundar was blessed with a baby boy and although he’d thought of naming him ‘Srinivasan’, he decided to name him after the man who practically made him the man he is today.

“As per the Hindu custom, I whispered a God’s name, ‘Srinivasan,’ in his ear. But I decided to name him Washington in memory of the man who had done so much for me,” M Sundar concluded.

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