Gautam GambhirRight-hander Ryan ten Doeschate has revealed the real reason behind veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin replacing Washington Sundar in the second Test of the 2024-25 Frontier-Gavaskar Trophy.
Surprisingly, the Gautam Gambhir-led coaching staff dropped Washington Sundar for the pink-ball Test in Adelaide against the Australian National Cricket Team and replaced him with Ravichandran Ashwin.
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Ravichandran Ashwin is the seventh highest wicket taker in the history of Test cricket with 536 wickets in his bag, and with the bat, he has scored 3496 in the longest format of the game.
It was waived for the Test series opening in Perth as the Gautam Gambhir-led management preferred Washington Sundar as the only spinner in the team.
The youngster did a good job in the Perth Test but was dropped for the second match in Adelaide. Ravichandran Ashwin returned to the side and did a good job with the bat on Day 1.
Ravichandran Ashwin came out to bat after India collapsed, and stabilized the innings with a decent partnership with Nitish Kumar Reddy. Ashwin and Reddy added 32 runs in 35 balls and ensured that the momentum remained in the Indian team.
Meanwhile, Ravichandran Ashwin scored 22 runs at a strike rate of 100, which was the best among Indian batsmen, before being dismissed by an unbelievable yorker from Mitchell Starc in the 39th century.
With the ball, Ravichandran Ashwin was brought in in the 32nd over – the penultimate over of the day – bowling a maiden.
We just thought Ravichandran Ashwin would be a bit more effective – Ryan ten Doeschate
Speaking after the first day's play, Ryan ten Doeschate said they picked Ravichandran Ashwin for the Adelaide Test, looking at his stellar record with the pink ball.
He said that they had confidence in Nitish Kumar Reddy's batting abilities and felt that there was no need for additional depth in the batting order. Ryan ten Doeschate said that the team management believed that Ravichandran Ashwin would be more effective with the ball on the Adelaide surface.
“Since he came into the fold, about halfway through that series in New Zealand, he hasn't put a foot wrong. I think going into the last Test, we wanted to strengthen the batting and with what we saw of Nitish in the first Test, we thought we could go with what we saw as the guys who were bowling the best spin at the moment, and yes we feel that Ash (Ashwin) is more likely to get wickets in these conditions,” said ten Doeschate explaining the decision behind Ravichandran Ashwin's inclusion.
“When you get the confidence of Nitish batting at seven, it doesn't matter with Ash batting at eight, and that was the thinking. There isn't much to choose between them, and we just thought Ash would be a bit more effective. on this rod,” he said.
We still feel like we're in the game – Ryan ten Doeschate
At stumps on Day 1, the Australian National Cricket Team were 86/1 and were trailing by just 94 runs. The Indian National Cricket Team looked clearly under pressure at the end of the day.
However, Ryan ten Doeschate remains optimistic, as he believes that the Indian team is still in the game. He said:
“I know there seems to be a big gap between the scores teams but we still feel like we're in the game and with a few tweaks tomorrow (Saturday, December 7, 2024), we'll get back in the game.
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