Former Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar is worried about Rohit and Gambhir’s decision to choose Washington Sundar over Kuldeep Yadav for the second Test in Pune.
After losing the first Test in Bengaluru, India made three changes to their lineup, bringing in Shubman Gill, Akash Deep, and Sundar in place of KL Rahul, Mohammed Siraj, and Kuldeep Yadav. Gavaskar expressed that he believes India’s choice to include Sundar instead of Kuldeep shows a lack of confidence in their batting.
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“The selection of Washington Sundar tells me that the Indian team was worried about their batting. He is in not just because of his off-spin but because he can get more runs at the lower order. Yes, I think there has been a lot of talk about the number of left-handers in the New Zealand batting line-up but if I had to do that then I would have picked another guy like Kuldeep Yadav, who can turn the ball away from the left-haders. He’s pretty hand with the bat as well. Obviously, not as heavy-scoring as Sundar,” Gavaskar said in commentary on Day 1.
Sundar, who has just made a century in Ranji Trophy for Tamil Nadu, is back in the Indian Test team after three years. His last Test was against England at Ahmedabad, 2021, in which he played a wonderful innings of 96*.
India’s troubles with the bat was showcased in the first innings of the first Test, when India were bundled out for just 46 runs. This was probably in their their minds when they selected the squad today.
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India made three changes in their playing XI for the second Test
Shubman Gill has returned to the team after missing the first Test due to neck stiffness. He has replaced KL Rahul, whose position in the lineup was under scrutiny following Sarfaraz Khan’s impressive performance, where he scored 150 runs in the second innings of the Bengaluru Test.
Rahul was selected ahead of Sarfaraz for the two-match Test series against Bangladesh last month. He could not make a telling contribution in that series and became talking point for being left out of the playing XI.
Another notable change is Washington Sundar in place of Kuldeep yadav, as Sundar addition brings strong batting depth in support of his spin bowling.
Additionally, Akash Deep has been named in place of Siraj, for the sheer raw pace he carries. Though this wicket isn’t going to be helpful for the fast bowler, but his raw pace could be valuable for the team.
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