'If you have faith in him, then send him to bat at No.3': Ravichandran Ashwin suggests massive change in batting order for Manchester Test

Legendary India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has made a surprising suggestion to Gautam Gambhir & Co. ahead of the fourth Test against England which is set to be played at Old Trafford from July 23. According to him, the Men in Blue can give Washington Sundar a chance to bat at the No.3 position and put him in Karun Nair's place in the upcoming match as the all-rounder has looked to be confident while batting in the series so far.

Though he did gave a forgettable performance with the bat in the third Test at Lord's and got dismissed for a duck in India's chase of 193 on the final day, Ashwin feels that if Sundar does bat on No.3 instead of Nair, then it will open the space for left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav to get into the playing XI.

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"If you have a lot of faith in Washington Sundar's batting send him at No.3 and play Kuldeep Yadav. You bring Sai Sudharsan for Karun Nair or send Sundar. I would say play Washington, Jadeja is also there, then play Sai or Dhruv Jurel, go with one less specialist bowler and back your spinner. The fourth fast bowler role, play that with Kuldeep," Ashwin said on his YouTube channel 'Ash ki Baat'.

Ashwin felt it was unfair to drop Sudharsan

On the other hand, Ashwin felt that if India were not looking at Sai Sudharsan as a No.3 batter, then there was no need to play him at that position in the first Test match. He added that it was unfair to drop the left-hand batter after his debut Test at Headingley.

"If you don't look at Sai Sudharsan as your No.3 or an opener, then there was no need to play him at that position in the first Test. If you wanted Karun, he should have played at No.3 right away. You played him at three and removed him and the next two Tests Karun has batted there. Karun has looked elegant and solid till he got out. It did not look like he was hurried or under pressure. He will want to make a big score and seal his spot. I would dearly like to see him get all five Tests," Ashwin added.

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Meanwhile, India have called up pacer Anshul Kamboj as cover following injuries to both Akash Deep and Arshdeep Singh ahead of the fourth Test. Kamboj has been impressive at the domestic circuit, picking up 79 wickets from 24 first-class games at an average of 22.88, but he is yet to play his first match at the international level.

Kamboj featured for the Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2025 and this was where he came into the limelight. The seamer claimed 8 wickets in as many matches in the tournament and this performance saw him get picked in the India A squad for the two-match series against the England Lions which took place in June.