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

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

The Gautam Gambhir-led coaching staff 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 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.

He was ignored for the Test series opener in Perth as the Gautam Gambhir-led management preferred Washington Sundar as the sole spinner in the team.

The youngster did a fine job in the Perth Test but got 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 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 in India's side.

Meanwhile, Ravichandran Ashwin scored 22 runs at a strike rate of 100, which was the best among the Indian batters, before being dismissed by an unbelievable 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 he bowled a maiden.

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

Speaking after the play on day 1, Ryan ten Doeschate said that they picked Ravichandran Ashwin for the Adelaide Test, looking at his stellar record with the pink ball.

He said that they had confidence in the batting abilities of Nitish Kumar Reddy and felt like there was no need for extra depth in the batting order. Ryan ten Doeschate added that the team management thought that Ravichandran Ashwin would be more effective with the ball on Adelaide's surface.

"Since he came to the fold, sort of halfway through that New Zealand series, he hasn't put a foot wrong. I guess going into the last test, we wanted to strengthen the batting and given what we saw of Nitish in the first test, we kind of thought we could go with what we perceived to be the guys bowling the best spin at the moment, and we feel Ash (Ashwin) is more likely to get wickets on these conditions," ten Doeschate said explaining the decision behind Ravichandran Ashwin's inclusion.

"When you get the confidence of Nitish batting at seven, it doesn't really matter with Ash batting at eight, and that was the thinking. There is not much to choose between them, and we just thought that Ash would be slightly more effective on this wicket," he added.

We still feel we are in the game - Ryan ten Doeschate

At stumps on Day 1, the Australia National Cricket Team were at 86/1 and were trailing by just 94 runs. India National Cricket Team looked clearly under pressure at the end of the day.

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

“I know that the scores look like there is a big gap between the two teams but we still feel we are in the game and with a few tweaks tomorrow (Saturday, December 7, 2024), we can get back in the game."