AUS vs IND 2024-25: Why are Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Shubman Gill not playing first Test?

India made a brave decision to drop both Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja from the first Test against Australia in Perth. The visitors preferred youngster Washington Sundar over the senior two as it is for the first time in many years that both the spinners have been axed from the squad. Sundar meanwhile has done a commendable job in the series against New Zealand and the Indian team management has kept their faith in him. 

Captain Rohit Sharma is yet to join the team as he is currently on paternity leave. Abhimanyu Easwaran was deemed the favourite to replace him but given his experience, the team management preferred KL Rahul at the top. Shubman Gill, who fractured his right hand during practice, has been replaced by Devdutt Padikkal. The Kerala-born cricketer made his debut earlier in the year and scored a half-century against England.

Harshit Rana and Nitish Kumar Reddy will make their debuts as captain Jasprit Bumrah confirmed during the toss. Rana has been in the scheme of things ever since the IPL ended, but hasn’t gotten a chance to be on the team in any format. Given the surface in Perth is good for pace bowlers, he was preferred over Akash Deep and Prasidh Krishna.

On the other hand, Reddy wasn’t close to getting into the Test team. However, India were looking for a pace-bowling all-rounder, and the youngster fit into the system. He has played 23 first class matches and scored 779 runs and picked up 56 wickets at an average of 26.98. As Bumrah confirmed, Reddy will be the fourth pace-bowling option in the Perth Test.

Australia made one change to their squad. Steve Smith is back at number four and that made room for an opener. Nathan McSweeney has been given his cap, as he will now have the tough responsibility of facing the new ball. 

Test cap No.467 for Nathan McSweeney!

Darren Lehmann presented his cap ahead of the first #AUSvIND Test pic.twitter.com/Xsl6KzHhF6

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) November 22, 2024

Playing XIs:

Australia (Playing XI): Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood

India (Playing XI): KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Reddy, Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Jasprit Bumrah (c), Mohammed Siraj