There are teams where it becomes tough for seniors to accept their exclusion from the playing XI at the expense of a junior player but if there are elder statesmen like Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, it is not a hard ask, feels India’s assistant coach Abhishek Nayar. Both Jadeja and Ashwin, who have a cumulative wickets tally of 855, were dropped from the playing XI in the opening Test against Australia at Perth, with Washington Sundar, on the basis of current form and batting ability on bouncy tracks, getting the nod.

It’s not that both were supposed to play but normally Jadeja, because of his batting abilities, has been a sure-shot starter in overseas Test matches.

“It’s only tough when you have seniors who don’t understand it. But when you have seniors like Jaddu and Ash who understand what the team is trying to do, it becomes very easy, because the team first policy is something that Rohit and Gauti bhai believe in,” Nayar, a former Mumbai Ranji stalwart, told reporters on the eve of India’s two-day practice game against Prime Minister’s XI.

Nayar believes that the whole team has bought into Rohit and Gambhir’s philosophy, including the two spin greats.

“I feel they have all bought into it. So I felt very happy that Jaddu and Ashwin are going to help the younger guys so that they do well here. It wasn’t very hard (to explain them) and culture is such that everyone wants Team India to win,” the former all-rounder said.

When asked if the spinners would have a role, he gave a very generic reply.

“I always feel in a game of cricket, nobody is out of the game and whether you are a spinner or a fast bowler, you are always in with a chance.

“Yes, your plans will change, how you release the ball and at what pace, will change, which is why you want to prepare with it (pink ball).

“May be, a little more challenging than the red ball and primarily because you haven’t bowled as much with pink ball. But I believe any top class spinner will have an opportunity,” he added.

Everyone in dressing room is happy for Harshit

Nayar seemed chuffed when the discussions turned to Harshit Rana. He has seen the youngster for two seasons at Kolkata Knight Riders and he couldn’t be more pleased with his impressive Test debut. Rana got four wickets in the game at Perth, including a superb delivery to remove Travis Head.

“Everyone in the dressing room is very happy with Harshit. This is a journey, two years back he was not sure if he would make it to the U-23 team or not.

“And now, donning the India colours and to what he did at Perth and to step up, it’s obviously very heartening and it feels great, to see him grow from strength to strength.” What has impressed Nayar the most is the 22-year-old’s work ethic and his ability to slog after being plagued by injuries.

“I remember, first time I had a small conversation with him when we scouted him for KKR. At that point, the belief was always there and talent was there for everyone around (to see). He has put in a lot of hard work, what a cricketer goes through,” Nayar tried to explain the journey.

“He has worked very hard on his niggles and even before coming here, he was training, practising with us, playing Ranji Trophy, and coming back in. He worked very hard to be where he is and very happy that he has got a bit of success.”

Ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 between Australia and India, assistant coach Abhishek Nayar said going to Australia and playing in their conditions is the toughest challenge for the Indian cricketers. Over the years, India has regained an upper hand over Australia in the series. India has won its previous four series against Australia in a row, including two wins in Australia in the 2018-19 and 2020-21 seasons. This has made India a much more successful side in the series, with India winning the BGT 10 times and Australia winning it five times, with their last series win coming in during the 2014-15 season. Their last series win in India was in 2004-05.

“It’s one of the toughest challenges for an Indian cricketer, coming here and overcoming it. I think Gauti Bhai (Gautam Gambhir) had a chat with the boys just before we started here. Some of the senior boys as well such as Booms (Jasprit Bumrah), Virat, Ash (Ashwin) all having you know chat with the guys, how first they came here as youngsters with a lot of seniors around. And how they sort of felt that once you finish the Australia series, you go back as a better cricketer. I think a lot of the young boys are really keen and raring to go and hopefully make a name for themselves by the end of this tour,” said Nayar in a video posted by the BCCI.

The much anticipated Border-Gavaskar series between India and Australia will begin on November 22, with the first Test at Perth.

The second Test, scheduled for December 6 to 10 at Adelaide Oval, will feature the exciting day-night format under the stadium’s lights. After that, fans will turn their attention to The Gabba in Brisbane for the third Test, which will be held from December 14 to 18.

The customary Boxing Day Test, set for December 26 to 30 at Melbourne’s storied Melbourne Cricket Ground, will bring the series to its penultimate stage.

The fifth and final Test, to take place at the Sydney Cricket Ground from January 3 to 7, will serve as the series climax, promising a dramatic conclusion to an exciting contest.

India’s squad for Border-Gavaskar Series: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammad Shami, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Virat Kohli, Prasidh Krishna, Rishabh Pant (wk), KL Rahul, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar.

India have not added any extra player to their squad ahead of the third Test against New Zealand and also does not have any plans of resting pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah before the upcoming long five-Test series against Australia Down Under starting in November. Amid reports that the team management had called up Harshit Rana to train and bowl for the team ahead of the third Test against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium, there was expectation that Rana could be added to the squad just like Washington Sundar was called up just before the second Test in Pune as the Delhi medium pacer is one of the bowlers picked in the Australia tour squad.

But on Wednesday, India’s assistant coach Abhishek Nayar clarified that not extra player has been added to squad while also confirming that they have no plans of resting Bumrah despite it being an inconsequential Test as New Zealand has already taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. There has been concerns regarding the workload of Indian pacers in the last few years as many of them have broken down even during a series.

Bumrah has a history with injuries and thus there was hope that the team management would like to keep him fresh ahead of the Australia series. But Nayar said the team management is aware of his workload but feels that the seasoned pacer from Gujarat has not bowled too many overs in two Tests, which incidently ended prematurely, thus giving him some extra rest days.

“I think in the two Test matches he’s (Bumrah) bowled around 20, 25 overs. So he’s not bowled a lot. Yes, there’ll always be a thought process about his workload. Also, we played two games where we not at 5k cricket, it’s been more three, three-and-a-half days, so he could have rest. But Booms is very important to us and the workload will always be something on our mind,” Nayar said in a pre-match press conference at the wankhede Stadium here on Wednesday.

Another reason for the team management opting against resting Bumrah is that the Wankhede pitch is expected to help seamers in the first hour or so every day.

“I always believe that Wankhede will always give pace a chance no matter what, especially when Mumbai winter doesn’t feel like it. But in the morning there will be a bit of moisture, there will be a bit of dew around. So you will expect the first sessions to have a bit of swing. I’m not sure of the pitche yet because it’s covered, but if the pitch is hard, then there will be a bit of swing as well. But at Wankhede, you will always see fast bowlers with a bit of a smile on their face in the morning,” said Nayar.

He said the Indian team needs do some self-reflection after losing a home series in more than a decade.

“Firstly, I will start with giving a lot of credit to New Zealand for the way they played and countered spin in the two Test matches. I feel that though the conditions will be different with a red-soil pitch. The last time we played on a red soil, which was in Chennai, a lot of the guys have been a lot of local cricketers and they understand what these conditions are and how the pitch is going to pan out. I think it’s more about, at this level, self reflection for every player to go in and understand their game plans,” he said.

“So for us, it’s more about self reflection and what we can do as a team. There’s always advantages, but I always believe that what you’ve done in the past doesn’t really matter in the present. It’s about how you turn up on that particular day,” he added.

File photo of Indian cricket team.© BCCI