Gautam Gambhir's aide reveals why R Ashwin replaced Washington Sundar in Adelaide Test

Gautam GambhirRight-hand man Ryan ten Doeschate revealed the real reason behind veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin replacing Washington Sundar in the second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25.

The Gautam Gambhir-led coaching team surprisingly dropped Washington Sundar for the pink-ball Test in Adelaide against the Australia national cricket team and replaced him with Ravichandran Ashwin.

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Ravichandran Ashwin returned to India XI after being benched in the Perth Test by Gautam Gambhir's management

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 ignored for the test series first match 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 dropped for the second match in Adelaide. Ravichandran Ashwin returned to the side and did a good job with the bat on day one.

Ravichandran Ashwin came out to bat after India suffered a batting collapse, and he 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 with the Indian side.

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

With the ball, Ravichandran Ashwin was introduced in the 32nd over – the penultimate of the day – and he bowled a maiden.

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

Speaking after the first day's match, Ryan ten Doeschate said they chose Ravichandran Ashwin for the Adelaide Test, looking at his excellent record with the pink ball.

He said they had confidence in Nitish Kumar Reddy's batting abilities and felt there was no need for additional depth in the batting order. Ryan Ten Doeschate added that the team management believed Ravichandran Ashwin would be more effective with the ball in the Adelaide box.

“Since he came into the fold, sort of halfway through this New Zealand series, he hasn't put a foot wrong. I guess before the last Test we wanted to strengthen the batting and given what we saw from Nitish in the first Test, we kind of thought we could go with what we perceived to be the guys who are bowling the best spin at the moment, and we think Ash (Ashwin) is more likely to get wickets under these conditions,” said Ten Doeschate explaining the decision behind Ravichandran Ashwin’s inclusion.

“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 slightly more effective on that wicket,” he added.

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

On the first day, the Australian national cricket team was at 86/1 and trailing by just 94 runs. The Indian national cricket team clearly looked under pressure late in 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 we are in the game and with a few adjustments tomorrow (Saturday December 7, 2024) we can get back in the game.”