IND vs AUS: Rohit Sharma reveals why Tanush Kotian was picked over Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel

Ahead of the fourth Test against Australia at Melbourne, which will be a Boxing Day Test, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma backed all-rounder Tanush Kotian's selection in the series, saying that his performances in domestic cricket over last two years have shown that belongs to this level of the sport and is a good option for the team.

Going into the second half of the Border-Gavaskar Series against Australia, with the series level at 1-1, 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.

Speaking in the pre-match presser, Rohit said that Kuldeep is not 100 per cent fit and had a hernia surgery while other spin-bowling all-rounder Axar Patel has recently been blessed with a baby. Moreover, Tanush had the experience of playing the India A-Australia A series before the BGT. 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.

"Yeah, Tanush was here a month back (for the Australia A) series. And Kuldeep (Yadav), I do not think, has a visa (laughs). And we wanted somebody to get here as quickly as possible. Tanush was the one who was ready and he played here," the skipper said.

"Not that Tanush is not good enough. He has shown in the last two years what he has done in domestic cricket. And we really wanted just a backup in case, you know, we need two spinners playing here or in Sydney, you need a backup option."

"Kuldeep, obviously, is not 100 per cent fit. He recently went through a hernia surgery. And the other options, like Axar, he had a baby, so he is not going to travel. So Tanush was the right option for us at this point. And he has certainly shown in the domestic level what he is capable of."

He is probably one of the reasons why Mumbai has gone on to win the Ranji Trophy last year. He played a major role as an all-rounder, in fact. So a very good option for us in case we need him. Just so that all areas are covered," he concluded.

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. 

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 Ranji trophy this year, 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.

Speaking about star India batter Virat Kohli's decline in form and tendency to fall consistently to outside off-stump balls, Rohit backed the "modern-day great", saying, "he will figure out his own way out of that path".

Fans would no doubt be wanting a big score from the 36-year-old legend, as across all formats this year, Virat has scored just 614 runs at an average of 21.92, with just one century and two fifties to his name and best score of 100*.

In nine Tests this year, he has scored 376 runs at an average of 25.06, with just a century and fifty to his name in 17 innings. His best score is 100*.

The decade of 2020s has not been kind to Virat the Test batter. In 37 Tests and 64 innings, he has managed just 1,964 runs at an average of 31.67, with just three centuries and nine fifties and best score of 186.

In the ongoing ICC World Test Championship final, Virat has scored 687 runs at an average of 36.15 in 12 matches and 21 innings, with two centuries and three fifties and the best score of 121.

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.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DNA staff and is published from ANI)