India will play the first Test of the 5-match series in Perth from November 22.
Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar shared his thoughts on reports that R Ashwin might be the lone spinner in India XI for the first Test of the BGT 2024 against Australia. This match will be played at the Optus Stadium in Perth, which is a pace bowler’s paradise.
Jasprit Bumrah will be the stand-in skipper while Rohit is on paternity leave. India is slated to use only one spinner in the opening Test, with R Ashwin reportedly making the cut in the playing XI. Meanwhile, Nitish Kumar Reddy could make his Test debut, with the pair expected to bat at No. 7 and 8 respectively.
Sanjay Manjrekar was asked if he was worried about Ashwin and Nitish batting at no.7 and 8 for India and he said that he was worried.
“It does. Ashwin had that inning in Sydney where we had that drawn game but generally, if you look at his batting performances overseas, whether it's England, South Africa, or Australia, compared to his batting performances in India, there's a big difference,” Manjrekar said on ESPNCricinfo.
Ashwin has scored 1989 runs in Tests in India. On the other hand, he has 384 in 10 matches in Australia, 114 in Bangladesh, 261 in England, four in New Zealand, 205 in South Africa, 226 in Sri Lanka, and 291 in the West Indies.
Manjrekar feels that Washington Sundar would be the better choice for the lone spinner spot in India XI in place of R Ashwin.
"Yes, for me it was a no-brainer, and the thing that a lot of people get influenced by is just the name, stature and that is the challenge for people who have that job to go beyond that and actually look at current form, the record of that person and make the right choice, and not get too influenced by basically stature of a player. For me Washington Sundar as an off-spinner or one spinner would have been the better choice,” he added.
Washington Sundar made his India Test debut in 2021 in Australia and played one Test in Brisbane, scoring 84 runs and taking 5 wickets across two innings.