Legendary India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar trashed captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Gautam Gambhir's tactic of bringing Washington Sundar into the playing XI for the second Test against New Zealand at the MCA Stadium in Pune. Sundar, who was not originally part of India's 15-member squad for the three-match Test series against the Kiwis, was added to the team after India lost the first Test in Bengaluru by 8 wickets. India head coach Gautam Gambhir said it was done to give more options against the left-handers of New Zealand. The visitors have as many as three left-handers in their top four.

Sundar was straightaway brought into the XI in place of left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav. "We just felt that they have four or five left-handers in the playing XI as well. So if we want another bowler who can take the ball away from the left-handers, it's always going to be useful for us as well. But we haven't decided what our playing XI is going to be. We feel that with the two openers and one left-hander in the middle. Washington can give us more control, and he is a good option for us," said head coach Gambhir.

Gavaskar did not agree with the theory of left-handers to bring in Sundar. The former India captain, in fact, said Sundar's selection was because of his batting and that India were worried about their lower-order.

"The selection of Washington Sundar tells me that the Indian team was worried about their batting. He is in not just because of his off-spin but because he can get more runs at the lower order. Yes, I think there has been a lot of talk about the number of left-handers in the New Zealand batting line-up but if I had to do that then I would have picked another guy like Kuldeep Yadav, who can turn the ball away from the left-haders. He's pretty hand with the bat as well. Obviously, not as heavy-scoring as Sundar," Gavaskar said in commentary on Day 1.

Sundar, who scored a century in his last Ranji Trophy appearance for Tamil Nadu, made a comeback to the Indian Test XI after three years. He last played against England in 2021 in Ahmedabad, where he scored an unbeaten 96 with the bat.

Murali Kartik surprised by Washington's inclusion over Kuldeep and Axar

Former India left-arm spinner Murali Kartik, who was in the commentary box when Gavaskar brought the topic up, said he was surprised that India went ahead with Washington ahead of Kuldeep and Axar Patel.

"Yeah, a touch surprised by the Kuldeep Yadav change. Also, there is someone like Axar Patel, who played well in Australia, didn't get much chance with the ball. Kuldeep Yadav had a lot of variety to provide. He didn't have too many runs to play with in the previous Test. Something a spinner needs in Test cricket," he said.

There were two more changes on the Indian side, which lost the first Test. Shubman Gill and Akash Deep replaced KL Rahul and Mohammed Siraj.

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