IND vs AUS Boxing day Test: Washington Sundar will give us variation in bowling attack, says Abhishek Nayar

India makes radical selection calls before fourth Test at MCG, with Rohit Sharma likely to open innings.

Minutes before the fourth Test commenced at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on Thursday (December 26, 2024), India stirred the news with some radical selection calls. Shubman Gill was dropped, Washington Sundar was preferred and there were hints about Rohit Sharma surfacing in the top-order.

After the first day’s play, it was assistant coach Abhishek Nayar’s turn to offer his rationale behind India’s choices: “Looking at these conditions and the pitch, having Washi in the bowling attack will give us that variation, especially when the ball gets old. After the 50 overs, we felt that was an area we wanted to get better at. We felt Washi could give us that solidarity with Jaddu (Ravindra Jadeja), especially with Travis Head and Alex Carey getting runs lower down.”

Explaining further, Nayar said: “Rohit will come up in the order and more likely than not, he will open the innings. Unfortunately for Gill, he had to miss out. He understands it’s the team’s requirement and it’s unfortunate, but I wouldn’t say that he has been dropped. It’s just unfortunate that he couldn’t find his place in this game.”

Nayar then acted coy when asked about the episode involving Virat Kohli and debutant Sam Konstas: “Honestly, I don’t know. We were having a conversation outside. I am not aware of what happened, why it happened and if anything happened. But when you play a game like that, there will be emotions, but I am pretty sure that it’s not as big as it seems.”

Konstas drew praise too when Nayar added: “We saw him in the Prime Minister’s XI game when he got a 100 against us. We knew what we were up against. It’s always refreshing to see someone come and play good cricket, whether that’s our team or the opposition. So, credit to him.”