'I am really grateful for this day, I don't think I will ever forget this day.'
The stunning re-emergence of Washington Sundar as a Test-class cricketer has a catalytic force of recent vintage behind it -- his excellent outing for Tamil Nadu against New Delhi in the Ranji Trophy.
His 152, while batting at No. 3, and a six-wicket match haul at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi earlier this month was enough to convince head coach Gautam Gambhir, a long-time backer of Washington, to fast-track the all-rounder into the India playing XI for the second Test against New Zealand in Pune.
Washington vindicated the call with a sensational spell of 7/59 against New Zealand, and that too in his first Test match since March 2021.
The Tamil Nadu man duly acknowledged the significance of playing red-ball matches at domestic level.
"It was a great opportunity for me to play Tamil Nadu vs Delhi game because it's good to be playing (with the) red-ball every now and then and keep getting the rhythm in red-ball (cricket) going -- both with the bat and ball -- and be consistent with it," Washington said after the day's play.
The 25-year-old underlined how helpful it was for him to get to bowl a lot of overs in that Ranji game.
"The fact that I also got to bowl a lot of overs in that game definitely helped. I am really grateful for this day, I don't think I will ever forget this day... very special," he said.
Washington said his intention is to improve his overall skills without getting moulded as a particular style of all-rounder.
"(About the) perception, I shouldn't be thinking too much about it, I should just be focusing on what I can do as a person, as a cricketer to keep getting better, to find that best version of myself," he said.
For someone who has 65 wickets in 31 first-class matches across eight years since his debut, Washington has seldom been in contention for a Test selection, but all that has been changed now.
"That has always been a self-talk for me because I have always wanted to figure out things that would help me to get better, help me to keep evolving as a cricketer.
"That is the only thing I have been focusing on in the last few years and I am really grateful to (the) god for me to be able to experience these kinds of situations," he added.
Washington, whose 7/59 replicates senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin's best figures in an innings in Tests, hopes to play a lot more games alongside his Tamil Nadu teammate as well as Ravindra Jadeja.
"We communicated a lot and they brought in a lot of qualities, skill sets and experience. That really helps for someone who is playing along with them," he said.
"It definitely helped me today and it is special to be playing in the game in which both of them are part of as well. I hope we will get to play a lot more games together," he said.
Washington also lauded Ashwin for sharing the nuances of their shared craft.
"It's quite rare but he (Ashwin) is very kind, especially in that perspective. Not just me, but no matter who goes and asks him for ideas about bowling or any technicalities, he's always there to help everyone," he added.
It reflected in the day's proceedings. Ashwin broke through the New Zealand top-order before Washington feasted on the middle and lower-middle-order as India bundled out the Kiwis for 259 in their first dig.
"The ball became very soft. So, we had to sort of give more speed and more body into the ball, that was something me and Ash (Ashwin) kept talking about," Washington revealed.
"Ashwin said he did that himself in the spell after lunch, that's how he got (Devon) Conway out. We spoke about it and (I'm) glad I was able to do it," he added.
