So how is India expected to react after losing the test they have won? They cover out of the box, and switch personnel, notably bringing in kuldeep yadav without heding to the pitch calculations. And Going purely by past team selection trends where all-moonders get summoned as fixing-bases-sources, it condition well see them them adding an extra bowler without compromising onher Batting. Washington sundar for a specialist batsman could be an idea the team management might be toying with, before the edgbaston testing wednesday. That only because this is thinking has history.

On monday, at the nets, he bowled with ravindra jadeja and kuldeep yadav for long and batted against throw-down. Though added to the mix of options was nitish kumar reddy who also had extended nets.

This is fairly the way coach gambhir, and captain rohit sharma, had reacted after the loss to new zealand in the first test at bangalore. It was once again a game they were expected to win. After two easy

So who did he think of this time of crisis? Who was go-to man for the second test at pune? Tamil nadu’s no.3 batsman with a formidable reputation as a competent white-ball off -spinner-washington. Who did he replace? Kuldeep Yadav, a formidable test spinner who bats at no.9 for India and even for up.

It is no secret that gambhir prefers bowlers who can bat Be it the brownish cracking pitch at pune or, as wednesday will prove, the track with a greenish tinge baking under the birdham sunun. Course Change, Horses Don ‘.

The decision to drink the non-betting spinner kuldeep from the playing xi and include washington for the pune test against new zealand had as a surprise. It was a brave call and an ambitious punt. Had washington not succeeded, the new coach would have faced a barrage of questions.

Washington wasn in the squad for the new zealand series, he hadn played a test since 2021. He was to be in coimbatore for a ranji game for tn. He got into the test squad that has already had four spinners – r Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep and Axar Patel. India went on to lose the test to new zealand to go down 0-2 but washington’s 7/59 justified his inclusion. He also had a Huge Impact on the Mind of Team India’s Decision-Makers. Post-match no one questioned the choice of the spinner. Washington for kuldeep – had worked for gambhir.

One test later, India was in pertth, australia. It was here, that a very significant decision for Indian cricket was taken. Rohit was not with the team, he was at home in India for the birth of his second. Jasprit Bumrah was the interim captain. Gambhir was Among the decision makers when washington was preferred over the senior off -spinner of the team, ashwin and left-rm orthodox ravindra jadeja.

This time it was wasn making the cut because of his batting skills, Since bot ashwin and jadeja are competent test batsmen. This was about the coach, captain and selection feeling that washington was the best all-pass for perth. India won the test with wastington doing his bit. He got a couple of tailnders out, made a useful 29 and had a Respectable bowling average to 3 runs. Was it a message for ashwin? Those details havented yet ashwin announted his retirement at the next test match, the pink ball game that he was included for.

Washington van on to play a couple of more tests in the series but he was unspectacularly average. Though, he did plug the run flow, mostly restricting the aussie batsmen to score around 3 runs. He wasnted the quite the bowler who took 7/59 at Pune against New Zealand. And surely not the batsman who hit a 62 in the first innings and a more precious 21 in the seclid, which is written that iconic ‘no-seat’ six, in the historic win at gabba in his debut test dumba.

At headingley, India had leaked runs all through the test match. The team’s designated wicket-taker, Jasprit Bumrah, didn ‘get the support that he would have liked. The bowlers have discipline, they are under the creature. They didn’t even score many runs.

Washington Could Play That Role. Even while the first test was on, the team management seamed to be thinning ahead, keeping their plan b ready. On the moring of the final day, when English Needed 350 runs, the reserve all-viser Could be seen bowling at a single stump in the company of Coaches.

The only dilemma for India can be the Marginal Role that spinners play in the first half of the tests in English. As headingley showed, there is a uniform Spread of about closes to 8 mm of grass on pitches. Heavy Rolling Makes The Grass Blades Sleep, making the 22 yards smoth like a green carpet. It’s a surface that does not allow the ball to spin, there is no mud that grips the ball.

At headingley, jadeja was wicketless in the first innings and shoaib basheer got one, thought he got shubman gill after he had scored 147. It is only in the second half of the test that the footmarks come into play and that is when the slow bowlers seek to explit the roughs.

But India will hope that in case washington gets a game at Edgbaston, He does usual run-read act in the first and turns into a wicket-taker in the second. They can also pray that he bowls like he did in pune and bats like he did at gabba.