Why did team India pick another Spinner for the New Zealand test? Here’s what you need to know

India has opted to draft in all-rounder Washington Sundar in the squad for New Zealand Tests, though there are already four specialist spin options available. This decision was taken after succumbing to the first Test match in Bengaluru on Sunday. Even though the squad already featured experienced spinners of the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav the BCCI decided to call upon Sundar for the two Test matches remaining. As reported more so by Indian Express, Sundar was included in the set-up because there were fears with regards to batting as Shubman Gill was looking a bit sore with a stiff neck, Rishabh Pant was nursing a knee injury and KL Rahul had not made any impact in Bengaluru. It further stated that the team management led by Gautam Gambhir was the one who wanted Sundar in the squad as he can feature in the second Test match in Pune.

The 25-year-old, who most recently was in action during the T20I series against Bangladesh earlier this month, has played four Test matches up to this point since making his Test debut during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy ‘down under’ against the Australians in 2021. His last appearance for the Test series was at the home series against England in Ahmedabad, the same year. This far in four Tests games, Sundar has mustered a total of 265 runs and taken home six wickets.

This came after India suffered a defeat at the hands of New Zealand in Bengaluru and were led 0-1 in the three-match Test series played on home soil. It was also the first Test win for New Zealand in India after 36 years (in 1988) and only their third win ever out of 37 Tests played in India.

Given that the squad is already equipped with three spinners; Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Kuldeep Yadav, adding Sundar into the second Test match in Pune, starting on October 24, means that one of these three will likely be dropped, should the team want to go for a different combination.

Following the defeat, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma appeared optimistic about the team’s chances to make a comeback in the series. “This type of result in a competition is known to happen. We will focus on the positive aspects and the way forward. There are players who have encountered this predicament before. We lost one match to England and then went on to win four matches after that. There are two tests left and we are well aware of what is expected from all the players. We will try to put our best game out there,” he said during the post-match presentation.

India's updated squad for the second and third Test against New Zealand: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK ), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Akash Deep, Washington Sundar.