“Can hit 1 to 6, 7”

Gujarat Titans (GT) head coach Ashish Nehra has praised Indian star all-rounder Washington ahead of IPL 2026. The 44-year-old asserted that the southpaw can bat in any position from opener to no.7. Nehra believes Sundar is not a finished product and will only get better with experience.

Notably, Sundar had opened alongside Rohit Sharma in an ODI against Australia in 2023. He scored 18 runs off 30 balls. Apart from this, he opened alongside Virat Kohli for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in an IPL 2021 match against Mumbai Indians (MI), scoring 10 off 16 deliveries.

While acknowledging Sundar for his performance in all three facets of the game, Nehra told PTI (via The Times of India):

“Washington Sundar, the kind of skills he has… number one, for me, Washington Sundar is a batsman who can bat from 1 to 6, 7, whatever number you want him to bat. He has the ability to bat that much. And now as he plays in all three formats for India, he will gain more confidence. It also depends on the conditions. Like I said, if there is a little help in the field, then Washington Sundar has the complete package with batting and bowling With the new ball he bowled very well where he started his career.

“So it depends on how the team uses him. But overall, Washington Sundar, whether you talk about batting, bowling or fielding, he is a fast and very deceptive fielder. He is not a finished product. The sky is the limit. He will get better from here. He is only 25-26 years old and has been in the system for so many years. So now his experience comes before you,” he added.

Interestingly, Sundar represented GT in only six matches in the last IPL season. While denying reports of a trade deal involving the all-rounder, Nehra said that they will make good use of the all-rounder this season:

“Because of the combination last year, he couldn’t play much. But next year, I hope he stays fit. Then you will see him playing more than last year.”

Notably, Washington Sundar was retained by GT for INR 3.2 crore for IPL 2026.

“Our core team is ready” – Ashish Nehra says excited to retain Indian core lineup ahead of IPL 2026 auction

Ashish Nehra further shared his joy after retaining India’s batting core, especially in the middle order. Regarding this, he said in the same interaction:

“Our core team is built and we have only released 4 or 5 players. So we are going into the auction with a very open mind. When you build a team from scratch, like last year, it is a different type of strategy. But at the moment almost all the spots are filled. So we will see what we get, what kind of purse we will get, because the other teams have so many. So you have to go with the flow, follow the auction. And this time again we are looking just to do it.”

“Our team is ready. Rahul Tewatia, Shah Rukh Khan, Washington Sundar, so many middle-order batsmen already, Glenn Phillips. You have so many players.”

GT will enter the IPL 2026 auction with INR 12.9 crore in its kitty. They have five places to fill, four of which are abroad.

GT Team Ahead of IPL 2026 Auction: Anuj Rawat, *Glenn Phillips, Gurnoor Singh Brar, Ishant Sharma, Jayant Yadav, *Jos Buttler, *Kagiso Rabada, Kumar Kushagra, Manav Suthar, Mohammad Siraj, Mohd. Arshad Khan, Nishant Sindhu, Prasidh Krishna, R. Sai Kishore, Rahul Tewatia, *Rashid Khan, Sai Sudharsan, Shahrukh Khan, Shubman Gill, Washington Sundar.

The IPL 2026 auction will take place in Abu Dhabi on December 16.