The off-spin bowling all-rounder of Mumbai, Tanush Kotian, has been named as the replacement of the premier and veteran spin all-rounder of India, Ravichandran Ashwin, for the final two Tests of the ongoing Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) and Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).
Kotian is expected to fly to Melbourne on Tuesday. India was sweating hard to find a replacement for the Tamil Nadu spinner, who shockingly announced his international retirement from the game at the end of the third Gabba Test in Brisbane. Tanush was part of the Mumbai squad in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy in Ahmedabad.
The fourth game started on Boxing Day (December 26), with the five-match series being labeled at 1-1, with India starting with a 295-run victory before being destroyed into the hands of the home for a 10-wicket defeat, while the third game was washed out due to persistent rain in Queensland.
The Mumbai spinner is expected to be Washington Sundar’s and Ravindra Jadeja’s backup player, both of whom are already in the squad. As the Indian captain Rohit Sharma confirmed in the pre-match press conference, Axar Patel is believed to be unavailable for the birth of his baby.
Tanush Kotian to join India in Australia as a replacement for Ravichandran Ashwin
The 26-year-old has been part of 33 first-class games where he has enjoyed 101 wickets at an average of 25.70 and a strike rate of 46.4 with the help of three five-wicket and five four-wicket hauls at the best bowling figure of 5/58 in an inning. With the bat, he has creamed 1525 runs in 47 innings at an average of 41.21 and a strike rate of over 60, shouldering on 13 half-centuries and a couple of centuries with a best score of unbeaten 120 runs.
The Mumbai spinner’s promotion to the senior men’s squad follows his recent performance for the India-A side on their trip to Australia. In one fixture at the MCG, he scored 44 runs and picked up one wicket.
When the domestic side claimed their 42nd title in the Ranji Trophy last season, Kotian contributed lion’s share with both bat and ball in hand. The right-handed batter drilled 502 runs in the edition at an average of nearly 42 and bagged 29 wickets at an average of below 17, which helped him earn the ‘Player of the Tournament’ award. He was the only player of the season to complete the double of 500 runs and 25 wickets.
In the ongoing red-ball domestic season, Kotian has already been part of the first two rounds before this call-up for India. And he again caught the attention of the selectors with 12 wickets at an average of 16.55, but hasn’t got the same tempo with the bat, collecting just 30 runs in three innings.
In their most recent batting performance, he managed a 64-run knock followed by an unbeaten 114-run knock, both batting at the number eight position for Mumbai in their victory in the Irani Cup over the Rest of India in early October. He also added three more wickets to his tally.
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Along with him, Manav Suthar, the 22-year-old left-arm spin all-rounder from Rajasthan, is also in line for his inclusion in India’s Test side, while the 31-year-old from Uttar Pradesh, Saurabh Kumar has just found himself behind in the race.
Updated Squad For India In MCG and SCG Test Of BGT 2024-25
Rohit Sharma (captain), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Devdutt Padikkal, Tanush Kotian.