Chandigarh, December 24: Mumbai’s off-spin bowling all-rounder Tanush Kotian was picked as Ravichandran Ashwin’s replacement in India’s squad for the fourth and fifth Border-Gavaskar Trophy Tests after the latter retired from international cricket at the end of the third Test in Brisbane. India did have a plethora of options to choose from with Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel being among them, but the selectors went with Kotian and India captain Rohit Sharma explained why.
With Ashwin having retired from international cricket midway through the series, India were a spinner short heading into the fourth and fifth Test match, slated to be played in Melbourne and Sydney respectively. Hence, Kotian was called up with the Mumbaikar, who is currently part of the proceedings in Vijay Hazare Trophy, expected to join the squad on Tuesday.
A day after the announcement, Rohit, speaking to the media, joked that Kotian was only picked because Kuldeep did not have a visa. However, on a serious note, he was all praise for the Mumbai all-rounder, who was also part of the ‘A’ tour in Australia ahead of the start of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, where he scored 44 runs anbd picked up a wicket in his only appearance.
“Tanush was here a month back and Kuldeep doesn’t have a visa. We needed someone to get here as quickly as possible. Tanush was ready and played well here. But jokes apart, he has been doing well over the last two years and we wanted a back-up in case we play two spinners in Sydney or Melbourne,” he said.
Summary: Rohit Sharma explains Tanush Kotian was picked to replace Ashwin due to visa issues with Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel.