Washington Sundar is no Ravindra Jadeja claims Aakash Chopra

Washington Sundar, Sarfaraz Khan, and Sourabh Kumar were added to the Indian Test squad for the second Test after KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja were ruled out of the second Test with injury concerns. The second Test starts in Visakhapatnam on February 2.

Sarfaraz came in as a replacement for Rahul while Sundar and Saurabh came in as Jadeja’s replacement. Jadeja picked up a hamstring injury in the first Test while Rahul is suffering from right quadriceps pain and will miss the game. India lost the first Test by 28 runs in Hyderabad.

Heading into the second Test, they have fallen to the fifth position on the points table. The loss came at the cost of the team not having an attacking field setting in the second innings, allowing England to score 420 runs in the second innings.

Aakash Chopra while speaking about India’s replacements ahead of the second Test spoke about Washington Sundar and how he is not close to Ravindra Jadeja in terms of his experience and attributes. Sundar has just played four Test matches and his last back in March 2021 against England.

“You are going to miss both Jadeja the batter and Jadeja the bowler. Jaddu is this team’s life. There is no doubt that he is the World No. 1 Test all-rounder. You got such a big first-innings lead because of Ravindra Jadeja. He also picks up a minimum of two to three wickets and is a gun fielder” said Chopra on his YouTube channel.

“When Jaddu is not there, you feel you should pick a bowler who can bat as well. So you start thinking about Washington Sundar. He will give control but won’t be able to give wickets. He might give as much batting, he is a very good batter, but he is not Jaddu,” he added.

Chopra further added that Kuldeep Yadav is a more enticing option to replace Ravindra Jadeja in the XI. He admitted saying that the chinaman is a wicket-taking option and more attacking option as well. He played his last Test match against Bangladesh in December 2022.

Aakash Chopra Backs Kuldeep Yadav For Vizag Test

“Playing two off-spinners becomes a question if the pitch is not an extreme turner. So you would want to play Kuldeep because you have to do something different to stop the reverse sweeps and switch sweeps. Kuldeep Yadav can do that because they (England) might fall into the trap if they don’t read him from the hand” Chopra opined on the inclusion of Kuldeep. Overall, Sundar has played just four Test matches scoring 265 runs at an average of 66.25 and having taken just six wickets.

The former Indian opener said that the selection between Kuldeep and Sundar will depend on which department India wants to strengthen in the Vizag Test.

“Multiple problems arise because of Jadeja’s absence. Of course, Bharat’s batting has given a little confidence. So he can bat slightly up the order but whom should they play down the order? If you want wickets – Kuldeep Yadav, if you want batting – Washington Sundar” concluded Chopra.

India have plenty of their experienced players missing from their current Test squad. Alongside missing Rahul and Jadeja, India are also missing the likes of Virat Kohli and Mohammed Shami due to different reasons.

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