Will Team India continue their ‘spinner roulette’ & hand Tanush Kotian a Boxing Day Test debut?

Washington Sundar in Perth, Ravichandran Ashwin in Adelaide, and Ravindra Jadeja in Perth. The India cricket team has opted for a different spinner in each Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Will this trend continue? Is there a chance that Ashwin’s replacement, Tanush Kotian, will receive his Test cap at the Melbourne Cricket Grounds in front of a full house for the Boxing Day Test?

India’s spin tactic so far

Despite making three changes, each selection has been based on merit. In the most batter-friendly pitch so far, Washington, who’s the most gifted batter out of the three, was played. In Adelaide, Ashwin was preferred due to his pink ball experience. Finally in Brisbane, where they felt they needed someone who could toil hard and face heaps of deliveries, they played Jadeja.

You can easily claim that bowling hasn’t been the reason why either of the spinners has been picked so far. Even Nathan Lyon hasn’t been a contributing factor as the pitches have heavily favoured pacers. So the question is, will Kotian, who by all means is a great batter for someone who bats 8 or lower, be handed a debut cap?

Tanush Kotian’s first-class stats

Matches	Runs	Bat Avg	100s & 50s	Wickets	Bowl Avg	Bowl SR	5w & 10w
33	1525	41.21	2 & 13	101	25.70	46.4	3 & 0

No debut for Tanush Kotian in Boxing Day Test

Logic would suggest no. Rohit Sharma himself said they need a backup. “We really want a backup in case we need two spinners here or in Sydney,” the Indian captain had told reporters on December 24. This clearly suggests that as far as the pecking order goes, Kotian is the third in line.

Of course, it makes sense that Washington and Jadeja, both of whom are vastly experienced when compared to the 26-year-old, will be preferred. Even if we talk about just batting, you can’t make a case that he’s better with the willow than either Jadeja or Washington. Also, one mustn’t forget that even as a backup, he was the third in line. Had either Axar Patel or Kuldeep Yadav been available, Kotian wouldn’t have received a maiden call-up.

There is no doubt he can be of use in the future, especially in India, but it doesn’t seem like Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma are going to play Kotian over Jadeja or Washington until and unless there is an injury.

India’s Probable XI for Boxing Day Test

Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Rohit Sharma (c), Nitish Kumar Reddy,Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep