File photo of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja
Just as the case was in the opening Test between India and Australia in Perth, the second Test at Adelaide is also likely to see Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja being made to warm the bench. According to a report, Washington Sundar is all but certain to keep hold of his spot in the Indian team as the ‘sole spinner’, with the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, and Harshit Rana accompanying him as the three pacers for the day-night Test.
Sundar beat the veteran duo of Ashwin and Jadeja for a spot in India’s playing XI in Perth. He produced figures of 0/1 & 2/48 with the ball. With the bat, he scored 4 & 29 in the two innings respectively. With the conditions in Adelaide largely expected to aid pacers, Sundar seems to have the edge over Ashwin and Jadeja.
“There’s a 90% chance that Sundar will play in the second Test against Australia at the Adelaide Oval,” Times of India quoted a source in a report.
Not everyone was happy seeing both Ashwin and Jadeja being snubbed for the series opener. India’s batting great Sunil Gavaskar even fumed at the decision while doing commentary in the match.
“Really surprised with Ashwin and Jadeja not playing, they have got 900 wickets between them in Test matches. They are not bowlers who can just play in Indian or sub-continent conditions. They are very clever bowlers, they are very experienced bowlers. Even if they might not get you wickets, they will be able to slow the scoring down because of the cleverness of how they bowl,” said Gavaskar, while doing commentary on Day 1 of the 1st Test.
“I would have thought that on these Australian wickets, there are big boundaries, so I thought you would have gone with both of them,” he had said.
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