 "Ravichandran Ashwin's wicket-taking ability gave him an edge over Washington Sundar. Image: AP")
Team India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate said that Ravichandran Ashwin was picked over Washington Sundar for the day-night Test at Adelaide as the management felt the veteran spinner would be more effective with the pink ball at the Oval. The former Netherlands cricketer also hailed Nitish Kumar Reddy for his impressive knock of 42 and said the young all-rounder has a very “very high ceiling”.
Ashwin, who returned to the Test team after missing the 295-run win at Perth, bowled only one over with no wickets as Australia finished Day 1 on 86/1, 94 runs behind India’s first innings total of 180 .
‘Ash is more likely to get wickets’
Sundar, who took 12 wickets in two Test against New Zealand at home, was India’s only spinner in the first Test at Perth. While he took two wickets and scored 33 runs in two innings, Ashwin was given a chance in the second match which started on Friday at the Adelaide Oval.
“Yeah, Washy hasn’t put a foot wrong since he’s come into the fold, halfway through that New Zealand series… I guess the thinking going into the last Test, we wanted to strengthen the batting,” ten Doeschate said at the post-Day 1 press conference.
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“And given what we saw of Nitish in the first Test, we kind of thought we’d go with what we perceived to be the guys bowling the best spin at the moment. And we feel Ash is more likely to get wickets in these conditions.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts“When you get the confidence of Nitish batting at 7, it doesn’t really matter with Ash batting at 8. And that was the thinking. Not much to choose between them. And we just thought that Ash would be slightly more effective on this wicket,” he added.
‘Reddy has a very high ceiling’
ten Doeschate was full of praise for 21-year-old all-rounder Reddy whose impactful knock helped India reach 180. The Vishakhapatnam cricketer had also contributed significantly at Perth by scoring 41 and 38* in his debut Test.
“We’re so chuffed with him. From the prep week in Perth where he looked like he still needed to figure things out, the way he worked in Perth and the game plans he implemented in Perth to get crucial runs there, I think getting us to 150 in that first game was amazing. Just the way he went about his work. He is obviously playing his first pink-ball game.”
“There’s a little bit of work to do. He’s very raw, but for a young kid, a 21-year-old to come out like that and play three innings of the quality he has. Being backed to bat at No.7 in the batting order. There’s obviously a chat around about Washi not playing, but he’s done everything a young player could do in a very short space of time and we think he’s got a very high ceiling,” said Ten Doeschate.