"It seems they want to play a new spinner in every Test match" - Aakash Chopra on Ravindra Jadeja's inclusion in India's XI for BGT 2024-25 3rd Test
Aakash Chopra feels that Ravindra Jadeja's inclusion in India's playing XI for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 third Test gives an impression that they wanted to field a different spinner in every game. He light-heatedly added that the visitors might have looked to play Kuldeep Yadav in the fourth Test had he been a part of the squad.
India made two personnel changes for the third Test against Australia in Brisbane, bringing in Jadeja and Akash Deep at Ravichandran Ashwin and Harshit Rana's expense. The hosts ended a rain-truncated Day 1 (Saturday, December 14) at 28 for no loss.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra', the former India opener had different views about Deep and Jadeja's inclusions.
"There were changes in the XI. We were discussing that there would be two changes for sure. One was confirmed that Akash Deep would definitely come in place for Harshit Rana. The second was in the realm of speculation, that who would play, whether Ashwin would play, or either Washington Sundar or Ravindra Jadeja would play in his place," he said (2:40).
"It seems they want to play a new spinner in every Test match. Washi played in the first, Ashwin played in the second, and Jadeja is playing in the third. Kuldeep might have played in the fourth had he been there, and someone else in the fifth if one more spinner was there," Chopra added.
Washington Sundar picked up two wickets in Australia's second innings in India's 295-run win in the first Test in Perth. He was replaced by Ashwin for the second Test, with the veteran off-spinner making way for Jadeja after managing just a solitary wicket in Adelaide.
"No one had done anything wrong" - Aakash Chopra on Ravindra Jadeja playing ahead of Washington Sundar and Ravichandran Ashwin
![Ravindra Jadeja has generally been India's preferred spinner in overseas Tests due to his batting ability. [P/C: Getty]](https://statico.sportskeeda.com/editor/2024/12/751c3-17341713521435-1920.jpg?w=500)
In the same video, Aakash Chopra noted that neither Washington Sundar nor Ravichandran Ashwin performed badly in the first two Tests. However, he acknowledged that Ravindra Jadeja was believed to be India's first-choice spinner before the start of the series.
"No one had done anything wrong. Neither did Washington Sundar do anything wrong in Perth nor did Ravichandran Ashwin do anything wrong in Adelaide. However, Jaddu is playing now. It seemed like Jaddu would be the original choice, but he wasn't," he said (3:10).
The cricketer-turned-analyst added that Sundar could have been played considering he was part of India's win at Gabba in their last Test tour Down Under or Ashwin could have been persisted with.
"He has got a chance in the third match where you felt Washi might be played for nostalgic purposes, but no. Then you felt they might continue with Ashwin, but no. There is no continuity. It's like wanting to eat a cassata ice cream today, a sundae tomorrow, and then vanilla and chocolate," Chopra observed.
Chopra opined that there is no logic behind Jadeja's inclusion. He added that there isn't a lot of scope for justification or explanation for the move.