Jasprit Bumrah stumps everyone with Big Playing XI Call. No R Ashwin Or Ravindra Jadeja

India’s stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah left everyone in awe at the time of the toss when he confirmed the team’s playing XI for the opening Test against Australia in Perth. Bumrah, along with the team management, including head coach Gautam Gambhir, decided to spring a major surprise by picking spin-bowling all-rounder Washington Sundar ahead of veteran duo Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja for the series opener. Sundar, who came into the series on the back of a stellar performance against New Zealand, was entrusted with the responsibility of the sole spinner, ahead of spin twins Ashwin and Jadeja.

It was Bumrah who won the toss and chose to bat first. After winning the toss, Bumrah confirmed that a total of 4 pacers have been given the nod for the Perth match and only one spinner. Apart from the Sundar surprise, the Indian team also gave debuts to pace bowling all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy and seamer Harshit Rana for the match.

“We have to bat first, it looks like a good wicket. Very confident with our preparation. We played a test match here in 2018 so we know what to expect. Wicket is getting faster. Nitish is making his debut. We have 4 quicks and Washi is the lone spinner,” Bumrah said during the toss.

India’s Playing XI: KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Reddy, Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Jasprit Bumrah(c), Mohammed Siraj

Australia captain Pat Cummins, meanwhile, said his team would have also decided to bat first. But it was a 50-50 call.

“We were 50-50 either way we’re pretty happy. Feeling well placed, pretty fresh. Any format we (India-Australia) play we seem to fight hard. Nathan McSweeney gets our debut at the top of the ​​the row,” Cummins said after losing the toss.

Australia also gave debut to opener Nathan McSweeney, who would look to replace the retired David Warner in the team.

Australia’s Playing XI: Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood