Former Indian off-spinner and commentator Ravi Ashwin has questioned the Indian national selection committee for excluding Manav Suthar from the Indian Test squad for the two-match series against New Zealand.
Interestingly, the Indian Test squad for the New Zealand tour has Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav as the three frontline spin bowling options. However, Suthar, who had a dream start to his Test career, has been sidelined.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Ashwin asserted that he would have loved to see Suthar as India’s primary spinner in the Test squad for the New Zealand tour. However, he believes that no specialist spinner will feature in India’s playing XI in New Zealand.
“It is quite clear to me that no specialist spinner will feature in the playing XI. By that, I mean nobody will be playing the role of a specialist spinner. The management is saying that Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja can both play as batters for us,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
“So, if they can provide some spin, we won’t need a third spinner. If the pitch offers as much turn, we will use Kuldeep Yadav. There is no need for Manav Suthar. I think that is quite a tricky situation because Manav Suthar is an attacking spinner who can play the role of India’s primary spinner. I would have loved to see him in the squad,” he added.
India’s Test squad vs NZ: Shubman Gill [C], Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul [VC], Devdutt Padikkal, Rishabh Pant [WK]*, Dhruv Jurel [WK], Ravindra Jadeja, Anshul Kamboj, Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Sai Sudharsan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj
Note: *Subject to fitness clearance
Test Series Schedule:
First Test, 19-23 November, Wellington
Second Test, 27 November-1 December, Christchurch
