Leg and Off: Should India pick Washington Sundar for 1st BGT 2024-25 Test in Perth?
There have been signs that Washington Sundar might not be just a good player but an all-timer. He took a four-wicket haul at the Gabba on debut in India's last Test tour of Australia, was out for a long time due to recurrent injuries and bad luck, came back and snapped 16 wickets in two Tests against New Zealand.
But it's the veracity of the occasion in a Border-Gavaskar Trophy series that we have to debate whether Sundar will even get a game in the upcoming five Tests, starting in Perth on November 22. Many a time, Indian teams have come here and lost Tests purely because of illogical and inexplicable selection choices.
Thus, debate without any overthinking is the right recipe. In this edition of Leg And Off, we'll discuss whether Sundar has done enough to start in Perth or not. First, we'll examine the reasons against it before analyzing why it might be a good idea.
Why Washington Sundar should not play in Perth
India need to ask themselves two key questions before the Perth Test: a) Is Sundar their first-choice, second-choice, or third-choice spinner? b) Do they want to play two spinners and three seamers or just one tweaker and four pacers?
Although Gautam Gambhir clearly rates Sundar highly, he would probably not rate him over Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin. Jadeja averages 21.79 with the ball in Australia while Ashwin was excellent in the last tour with both bat and ball (he troubled Steven Smith), despite suffering from injuries.
However, none of them have played at any of the Perth stadiums. India have often gone with all-pace attacks in the city because of the greenish, bouncy tracks that offer swing and seam movement. They have then relied on part-time spinners (Hanuma Vihari and Murali Vijay in 2018) to help rest and rotate the seamers.
Forget two spinners, it's even doubtful whether India will play one spinner. However, if they do, they should go for Jadeja's experience. Sundar is the future of Indian cricket, who has done well in Australia, but to trust him as a lone spinner when the seam attack would also be slightly inexperienced won't be ideal.
Some observers also feel that Sundar could come to bat at number three in place of the injured Shubman Gill. Theoretically, it sounds good because Sundar's technique is excellent, he's a left-hander, and he played a crucial knock at the Gabba the last time. But, practically, it has little merit.
There's a big difference between batting at the Gabba against tired bowlers versus at the much more seam-friendly Perth against a completely fresh attack. Then there's a huge difference between number seven/eight and number three. He could be batting in the first over, which would be like taking a lamb to the butcher.
Why Washington Sundar can help India win in Perth
Going purely on basic stats, playing Sundar in Perth would be a risk. But what are the upsides?
To start with, the 2018 Test in the old stadium, the WACA, where Vihari and Vijay were India's spinners, guess who was the player of the match? Australia's frontline spinner Nathan Lyon, for his brilliant spells of 5/67 and 3/39!
Lyon has always been Australia's most underrated weapon in Perth. As oppositions worry about the pace troika, Lyon has sneaked in an average of 18 -- his best for any Aussie ground in Tests -- at the Perth Stadium.
He has been able to do that because he's an over-spin bowler. In simple terms, he likes to take wickets with extra bounce unlike Ashwin and Jadeja, who naturally look to turn the ball to get their wickets. Sundar is similar to Lyon in that sense.
The Indian tweaker's extra height helps him too and it's what differentiated him from Ashwin and Jadeja against New Zealand. That in itself is a big enough case for India to play three fast bowlers and Sundar as one of the two all-rounders.
The other options are a) going with three seamers and Jadeja and Ashwin -- that shortens the batting a bit because of the latter's slight unreliability in SENA - and b) going with Jadeja, three seamers and Nitish Kumar Reddy or Harshit Rana as the fourth seamer but then, you are throwing a debutant in an extremely difficult clash.
Sundar is a better batting option than Ashwin and a better bowling option than Reddy and Rana. Playing him alongside Jadeja gives India an almost similar attack to Australia with the extra option of the left-arm spinner, who can also use the extra bounce. It also allows India batting depth till number eight.
For a long time, India have tried to catch Australia by surprise with four seamers but it hasn't worked, or come even close to working. The tempo of that attack is alien and it makes it easy for Australia to pick two of them apart.
To maintain the pressure, India can try and play by their strengths, trusting Sundar and Jadeja to hold their own at seven and eight and the three seamers to outdo Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc.