Hours after the eighth-wicket loss to New Zealand at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, India made one addition to their squad for the remaining two Tests. All-rounder Washington Sundar got recalled in the Test squad a day after he scored 152 against Delhi in the ongoing Ranji Trophy 2024-25 clash. The inclusion raised a few eyebrows as India already have a spin-bowling all-rounder Axar Patel waiting on the bench.
Injured batters and concern over Rahul’s form
It is quite clear that Sundar will not replace either Ravichandran Ashwin or Ravindra Jadeja in the squad. His inclusion indicates that the team management is considered about the batting lineup. Top-order batter Shubman Gill is still recovering from the stiff neck even though he batted in the nets on Day 4 and Day 5 of the first Test.
Other concerns for the team are in the middle-order. Wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant injured his knee on Day 2. In his lieu, Dhruv Jurel kept the wickets while Pant went on to score 99 runs in the second innings. However, if Pant doesn’t play, Jurel is the ideal replacement.
The second concern is KL Rahul. He had a forgettable outing in Bengaluru. After a duck in the first innings contributing to the historic collapse, he failed to carry forward India’s fightback and departed after scoring just 12 runs. In addition, he made a few errors in the field too including misjudging a simple catch in slip cordon in New Zealand’s first innings.
Sundar’s numbers
Sundar can be a cover for Gill for the remainder of the Test series. His last appearance in Test cricket was more than three years ago against England in Ahmedabad. Sundar scored an unbeaten 96 and shared a crucial partnership with Pant against Joe Root's side as India won by an innings and 25 runs.
So far, the Tamil Nadu all-rounder has scored 265 runs from four Tests (six innings) at an average of 66.25 including three half-centuries. With the ball, he is yet to shine as the right-arm off-spinner has six wickets to his name at an average of 49.83.
India's updated squad for 2nd Test and 3rd Test against New Zealand
Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Washington Sundar.
