Former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar has defended Indian skipper Rohit Sharma’s decision to play Washington Sundar ahead of Kuldeep Yadav in the second Test against New Zealand at Pune. Yadav was part of India’s playing XI in the Bengaluru Test and picked up three wickets in the first innings.

On the other hand, Sundar was added to India’s Test squad after the team’s eight-wicket loss in the opening game. India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate revealed that the all-rounder has been added to the Indian squad keeping in mind the number of left-handers in the opposition. Sundar also scored a fine knock of 152 runs against Delhi in the Ranji Trophy clash and picked up six wickets in the match.

Furthermore, India also included Shubman Gill and Akash Deep in place of KL Rahul and Mohammed Siraj respectively.

“Common sense selection. In-form seamer in. When the pitch is offering a lot, you don’t need an artiste like Kuldeep, a tall, quick, finger spinner will do,” Manjrekar posted on X/Twitter.

Meanwhile, India’s veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin picked up two wickets before lunch on the opening day as he accounted for New Zealand captain Tom Latham and Will Young. 

New Zealand were 92-2 at lunch after deciding to bat first.

India (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Sarfaraz Khan, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah

On the other hand, New Zealand made one change to their playing XI as they added Mitchell Santner in place of Matt Henry, who had a niggle.

New Zealand (Playing XI): Tom Latham(c), Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell(w), Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Ajaz Patel, William O’Rourke.