Advertisement

Matthew Hayden's surprise response after shock India move for first Test stuns cricket world

The tourists have pulled off some major selection surprises for the first cricket Test in Perth.

sam goodwin
Sports Editor
·5-min read

Matthew Hayden has backed India's surprise move to overlook veteran stars Ravi Ashwin and Ravi Jadeja for the first cricket Test against Australia in Perth, in a stunning decision from the tourists. India and Australia kicked off a blockbuster five-Test series on Friday, with Pat Cummins' men desperate to regain the Border-Gavasker Trophy for the first time since 2017.

India have won the last four Test series against Australia, and the last time the Aussies took down India was back in 2015. But this summer marks the first time in history that Australia and India will do battle across a five-Test series, and the tourists appear worried about the workload for their bowlers.

Matthew Hayden alongside India coach Gautam Gambhir.
Matthew Hayden (L) backed India coach Gautam Gambhir (R) after the surprise omissions of Ravi Ashwin and Ravi Jadeja. Image: Getty/Twitter

Veteran spinners Ashwin and Jadeja have both been put on ice for the first Test and seemingly saved for the rest of the series. Aswin (536) and Jadeja (319) have a combined total of 855 Test wickets between them, but a fast and bouncy Perth wicket is expected to favour the seamers.

India are playing three front-line fast-bowlers and using part-timer Washington Sundar as their spinner. Pace-bowling all-rounder Nitish Reddy and seamer Harshit Rana have been picked to debut, with Rana joining Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah in the pace attack.

Veteran captain Rohit Sharma will miss the Test after he decided to remain in India for the birth of his child, while Shubman Gill is out with a finger injury. Bumrah will captain the tourists in Rohit's absence.

The decision to leave out both Ashwin and Jadeja is a curious one, particularly considering Ashwin's pedigree. The 38-year-old could have made use of the bounce that is expected to be on offer in Perth, although it looks like he's being saved for the rest of the series.

Ravi Jadeja and Ravi Ashwin.
Ravi Jadeja and Ravi Ashwin are both out. (Photo by R.SATISH BABU/AFP via Getty Images)
Washington Sundar in action for India against New Zealand.
Washington Sundar (L) was brilliant with the ball against New Zealand. (Photo by PUNIT PARANJPE/AFP via Getty Images)

India have never played more than four Tests in a series against Australia, and the other pitches will be more favourable for the spinners. It's reminiscent of the 2021/22 Ashes series in Australia in which England opted to keep Stuart Broad and James Anderson on ice for the first Test.

"Brave, bold move first up," Hayden said on Channel 7. "Maybe it is the new captain Bumrah wanting to stomp his authority. Maybe it is the new coach (Gautam Gambhir). We always knew how he loved to play, maybe he is the same in the dugout."

On Fox Sports, fellow Aussie great Mike Hussey expressed his surprise. "I thought one of them might play, definitely,” Hussey said. “You see how important Nathan Lyon is for Australia. Nathan Lyon has actually got the most wickets out of the Australian bowlers here in Perth, so he’s the key man for Australia and what that does is allows the captain to rotate the fast bowlers around from the other end.”

KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Devdutt Paddikal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Nitish Reddy, Jasprit Bumrah (c), Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj.

Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.

RELATED:

Meanwhile, stand-in captain Bumrah has insisted India aren't carrying any baggage from their embarrassing recent Test whitewash against New Zealand, which marked the first time they'd ever list 3-0 at home. And Bumrah also warned Australia that struggling batter Virat Kohli was looking "ominous".

"The beauty about cricket is even if you win, you start from zero, and even if you lose you start from zero," he told reporters on Thursday. "So that's how I look at the game.

"Obviously, yes, we were disappointed and we were down that we had a tough series (against New Zealand). But we are not carrying any baggages. We come with a fresh mindset, different opposition and you learn from the changes that have happened in our team."

Pat Cummins and Jasprit Bumrah.
Pat Cummins and Jasprit Bumrah pose with the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

Kohli has a phenomenal record in Australia, averaging 54.08. But he's endured a staggering drought of runs over the last two years.

"He is one of the greats of the game," said Bumrah. "He's the utmost professional that we have in our team. He's got a lot of success. Okay, one or two series here and there can go up and down, but the confidence that he has at this moment, I have no doubts. He's looking to contribute. And the way I've seen him at training ... the signs are ominous."