NEW DELHI: Going into the second half of the Border-Gavaskar Series against Australia, India has made a solitary change in their squad for the final two Tests, giving all-rounder Tanush Kotian his maiden call-up to the Test side as a replacement for spin legend Ravichandran Ashwin, who announced his retirement from international cricket after the Brisbane Test.
The right-arm off-spinner arrives in the Indian red-ball setup as a spin-bowling all-rounder, who has proved his mettle with the bat as well in recent times.
Rising through the ranks in age-group cricket in Mumbai, Kotian was part of India’s Under-19 team in 2017. He competed in the U19 Asia Cup squad that year, alongside the likes of Riyan Parag and Arshdeep Singh.
However, after low returns in the lead-up to the tournament, Kotian missed making the cut for India’s 2018 ICC Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand, where the Prithvi Shaw-led side eventually lifted the trophy.
However, his exploits in India’s age-group domestic tournament, the Vinoo Mankad Trophy, soon earned him a place in Mumbai’s senior team, as per ICC.
Kotian made his first-class debut for Mumbai in 2018, aged just 20, picking up two wickets against Saurashtra in the first innings.
Since then, he has accumulated 101 first-class wickets in the format, averaging 25.70, from 33 outings. He has been a mainstay in Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy squad, with his batting coming to the fore as well – he has scored 1,525 runs so far, including two centuries and 13 half-centuries at an average of 41.21.
As Mumbai lifted the trophy, Kotian finished as the Player of the Tournament with 29 wickets, while also scoring 502 runs at an impressive average of 41.83, including a century and five fifties in 14 innings.
In the ongoing red-ball season in India, the 26-year-old has 12 wickets under his belt from five matches.
Kotian was signed by the Rajasthan Royals for IPL 2024 as a replacement for Adam Zampa, and made his debut appearance in the league but did not get a chance to roll his arms.
In October, the Mumbai all-rounder walloped a ton against the Rest of India side in the Irani Cup – the performance propelled him to the India A squad, which toured Australia ahead of the senior side’s five-Test series.
Kotian featured in the second tour game in Melbourne, where despite falling for a duck in the first innings, Kotian returned with 44 runs and snapped a wicket in the second.
With the Australia-India Test caravan moving to Melbourne and Sydney, where spinners have found more favour than other venues Down Under, Kotian provides India with a valuable option alongside the veteran Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar.
India’s squad for fourth and fifth Tests: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd. Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Devdutt Padikkal, Tanush Kotian. (ANI)