Home Cricket Facts Gautam Gambhir’s assistant reveals why R Ashwin replaced Washington Sundar in Adelaide Test

Gautam Gambhir’s assistant reveals why R Ashwin replaced Washington Sundar in Adelaide Test

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Gautam Gambhir’s assistant reveals why R Ashwin replaced Washington Sundar in Adelaide Test


Gautam Gambhir’s right-hand man Ryan ten Doeschate has revealed the real reason why veteran Ravichandran Ashwin replaced Washington Sundar in the second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25.

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 returned to the India XI after being benched in the Perth Test by Gautam Gambhir.

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 scored 3496 in the longest format of the game.

He was ignored in the first match of the Test series in Perth as the Gautam Gambhir-led management preferred Washington Sundar as the only player in the team.

The youngster did a good job in the Perth test, but was eliminated 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 suffered a batting collapse 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 on India’s side.

Meanwhile, Ravichandran Ashwin scored 22 runs at a strike rate of 100, which was the best among Indian batsmen, before being dismissed by an incredible yorker from Mitchell Starc in the 39th over.

With the ball, Ravichandran Ashwin was introduced in the 32nd over, the second last of the day, and bowled a maiden.

We just thought Ravichandran Ashwin would be a little more effective – Ryan ten Doeschate

Speaking after play on Day 1, Ryan ten Doeschate said Ravichandran Ashwin was picked for the Adelaide Test and noted his stellar record with the pink ball.

He said they were confident in Nitish Kumar Reddy’s batting skills and felt there was no need for additional depth in the batting order. Ryan ten Doeschate added that the team management thought Ravichandran Ashwin would be more effective with the ball on the Adelaide surface.

“Since he came into the fold, about halfway through that New Zealand series, he hasn’t put a foot wrong. I guess coming into the last Test, we wanted to strengthen the batting and given what we saw from Nitish in the first “In the Test, we thought we could go with what we perceived as the guys who were spinning the best at the moment, and we think Ash (Ashwin) is more likely to get wickets in these conditions,” ten Doeschate said explaining the decision behind. The inclusion of Ravichandran Ashwin.

“When you have the confidence of Nitish batting at seven, it doesn’t really matter with Ash batting at eight, and that was the idea. There’s not much to choose between them, and we just thought Ash would be a little more effective on this wicket. “he added.

We still feel like we’re in the game – Ryan ten Doeschate

On Day 1, the Australian national cricket team was 86/1 and was losing just 94 runs. The Indian national cricket team looked clearly under pressure at the end of the day.

However, Ryan ten Doeschate remains optimistic and believes that the Indian team is still in the game. He said:

“I know the scores seem to indicate that there is a big gap between the two teams, but we still feel like we are in the game and with some adjustments tomorrow (Saturday, December 7, 2024), we can get back in the game.”