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India’s decision to bring Ravindra Jadeja as Ravichandran Ashwin’s replacement for India’s 3rd Test vs Australia has got a former coach’s backing.
Former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar supported India’s decision to bring in Ravindra Jadeja in place of Ravichandran Ashwin in their playing 11 for the third 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test against Australia on Saturday (December 14).
Jadeja is the third in line of lone spinners to play in the series. Washington Sundar started in Perth, where India won by 295 runs but was replaced by Ravichandran Ashwin in the pink-ball Test in Adelaide. Ashwin bowled a frugal 18-over spell but could pick up just one wicket while contributing scores of 22 (22) and 7 (14) with the bat in the 10-wicket defeat.
“He (Jadeja) has always been the first-choice spinner in overseas conditions and that’s where India has won a lot of overseas test matches in recent times,” Bangar said on live commentary on Star Sports. “… Maybe the team management would have gotten swayed away by the performances of Washington Sundar in the previous Test series against New Zealand, but those conditions were totally different.”
“I’m glad that they resorted to someone like Jadeja, who may not have to do a lot of work in the first innings (where India will bowl). His record as a batter also helps the team get useful runs in the lower order of the innings as well, which has been significant in helping India win overseas matches.”
Jadeja has an excellent all-round record in Australia. In five Tests, he has picked up 14 wickets at an average of 21.79, while also scoring 175 at 43.75.
However, those games have come only across two venues — the Melbourne Cricket Ground and the Sydney Cricket Ground, which are predominantly spin-friendly wickets in comparison with Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane. This is Jadeja’s first taste of playing at the ‘Gabba’ and India would hope his batting technique could cushion the top-order struggles.
Only 13.2 overs were bowled before rain interrupted the proceedings on Saturday. India started with Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, who weren’t at their consistent best, and Akash Deep’s first international spell in Australia was interrupted mid-way.
The scoreboard read 28/0, with Usman Khawaja (19 off 47) and Nathan McSweeney (4 off 33) going strong.