Indian national cricket team’s legendary batsman Sunil Gavaskar has demanded the selection of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in the playing XI for the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25.

Sunil Gavaskar has opined that India will have to pick their best players for the first match of the Test series in Perth and they will not pay too much attention to the fielding behaviour.

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India likely to field only one spinner in Perth Test

Various media outlets have reported that the Gautam Gambhir-led coaching staff has already decided India’s XI for the Perth Test against Australia.

Yashasvi Jaiswal will reportedly open with KL Rahul and Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant and Dhruv Jurel will follow them in the batting order.

Additionally, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep/Harshit Rana are likely to be the three frontline pacers, along with Ravichandran Ashwin as the lone spinner and Nitish Reddy as the bowling all-rounder.

Notably, Nitish Reddy is yet to make his debut for the Indian national cricket team in Test cricket. Furthermore, he has played only 23 matches and has scored 779 runs at an average of 21.05. With the ball, he has taken 56 first-time wickets.

In Ashwin and Jadeja, we have bowlers who have taken almost 900 wickets – Sunil Gavaskar

Meanwhile, Sunil Gavaskar is not on the same page as Gautam Gambhir as he has demanded a massive change in the playing eleven.

In an interaction with PTI, Sunil Gavaskar stated that Ashwin and Jadeja should definitely be part of the playing XI. This means that the legendary batsman does not want Nitish Reddy to be included in the playing XI.

“I think you have to pick the best players for the Test match, regardless of how the field will behave. In Ashwin and Jadeja, we have players who have taken almost 900 wickets between them. They also have more than half a dozen wickets between them. centuries of testing under his belt,” said Sunil Gavaskar.

Sunil Gavaskar acknowledged that there is a high possibility that the spinners will not get much help from the surface but added that the duo can use their experience to achieve success.

“Even if they don’t get much help from the field, they can, with their skill and experience, stop the scoring and put pressure on the batsmen,” Sunil Gavaskar added.

I think all three are pretty clear; Bumrah, Siraj and Akash Deep – Zaheer Khan

Legendary pacer Zaheer Khan also spoke about India’s XI for the Perth Test and said Jasprit Bumrah, Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj will be the three pacers.

Zaheer Khan further said that one between Harshit Rana and Nitish Reddy will be the fourth pace bowling option. He said on Cricbuzz:

“I think the three are pretty clear – Bumrah, Siraj and Akash Deep. Those three seamers will be there, the fourth will be interesting, whether you go in with Harshit Rana or take the Nitish Reddy route. Adding to that batting depth is something that “they will be analyzing.”