Veteran commentator Aakash Chopra feels that Ravindra Jadeja’s inclusion in India’s playing XI for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 third Test showed that they wanted to play a different spinner in every game. He added that they might have looked to play Kuldeep Yadav in the fourth Test had he been a part of the squad as well.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel ‘Aakash Chopra’, he said, “There were changes in the XI. We were discussing that there would be two changes for sure. One was confirmed that Akash Deep would definitely come in place for Harshit Rana. The second was in the realm of speculation, that who would play, whether Ashwin would play, or either Washington Sundar or Ravindra Jadeja would play in his place. It seems they want to play a new spinner in every Test match. Washi played in the first, Ashwin played in the second, and Jadeja is playing in the third. Kuldeep might have played in the fourth had he been there, and someone else in the fifth if one more spinner was there.”

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In the same video, Aakash Chopra also stated that neither Washington Sundar nor Ravichandran Ashwin performed badly in the first two Tests as well. However, he added that Ravindra Jadeja was believed to be India’s first-choice spinner before the start of the BGT series.

“No one had done anything wrong. Neither did Washington Sundar do anything wrong in Perth nor did Ravichandran Ashwin do anything wrong in Adelaide. However, Jaddu is playing now. It seemed like Jaddu would be the original choice, but he wasn’t. He has got a chance in the third match where you felt Washi might be played for nostalgic purposes, but no. Then you felt they might continue with Ashwin, but no. There is no continuity. It’s like wanting to eat a cassata ice cream today, a sundae tomorrow, and then vanilla and chocolate,” Aakash Chopra concluded.