Why did Washington Sundar bowl R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in the Perth Test XI? Ravi Shastri explains

India’s stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah didn’t go into detail during the toss, but the tourists’ performance in the first XI Test against Australia in Perth surprised everyone. In the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series opener, Ravichandran Ashwin or Ravindra Jadeja were expected to take the sole spinner’s spot, as has been the tradition overseas, but it was Washington Sundar who got the nod. Sundar’s inclusion surprised many given the stature of Ashwin and Jadeja. Later during the comments, former India coach Ravi Shastri explained the reason for this choice.

Discussing Sundar’s selection during the first session of the first day of the Perth Test, Shastri said the Tamil Nadu spinner was given the nod due to his recent form against New Zealand and ability to bat “at any position in the batting order”.

Retired Australian cricketer David Warner even asked Shastri if it was Sundar’s performance that got him ahead of Jadeja and Ashwin. The former Indian all-rounder said yes and that was it.

Three debutants earned their first cap in the match: two from India and one from Australia. All-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy and right-arm seamer Harshit Rana earned their first Test caps while Australian opener Nathan McSweeney also gave the go-ahead to make his debut for the Baggies Greens.

“We’re going to bat first, it looks like it’s a good wicket. We are very confident in our preparation. We played a Test match here in 2018, so we know what to expect. The wicket is getting faster. Nitish makes his debut. We have 4 fasts and Vashi is the only spinner,” Bumrah said after winning the toss.

Australia captain Pat Cummins said they were very happy with the result of the throw, although he was also leaning towards batting first.

“Anyway, we were 50-50 and we are very happy. We feel good, quite fresh. Any format we (India-Australia) play in seems to be a close fight. Nathan McSweeney makes his debut at the top of the table.” Cummins said. at the moment of the throw