India have called-up uncapped all-rounder Tanush Kotian to their Test squad in Australia as replacement for R Ashwin, who announced his international retirement last week.
It's not the first time Kotian has replaced R Ashwin in a side. In the IPL earlier this year, Kotian was called-up to Rajasthan Royals' XI for the first time in the competition, after Ashwin was ruled-out of their game against Punjab Kings with an injury. Kotian came into the side without any previous IPL experience, having made his T20 debut in 2021.
Outside of it being Kotian's first experience of IPL cricket, he was also given his first experience as an opening batter. With Jos Buttler also injured for the game, Rajasthan came into the game with only one specialist opener in Yashasvi Jaiswal, who they subbed in for Kuldeep Sen at the innings break. While Sanju Samson has previous experience of opening, as captain he decided to remain at No.3 rather than open the innings for the first time since 2019.
That decision meant Kotian was pushed up to the top of the order. At that point in his career, Kotian had 62 runs in 23 T20 matches, playing primarily as an off-spinner having batted in only nine previous innings. The decision was likely based on his record in other formats - he has a first-class high score of 120* and averages above 40. Nevertheless, it was a decision that almost cost Rajasthan the match.
– 106 Tests
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– 537 wickets @ 24.00
– 37 five-wicket hauls
– 6 centuries
Ravichandran Ashwin retires as one of the greats 🇮🇳
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Kotian made 24 runs but took up 31 balls in the innings, leaving Rajasthan to play catch-up for the rest of the match despite only being set a target of 148. Having never really recovered from the slow start from Kotian, the pressure ramped up on batters lower down the order, and if it wasn't for a 10-ball 27 from Shimron Hetmyer, the game may have been gone. As it was, Rajasthan got over the line with a ball to spare. Kotian did not play another IPL game for the rest of the season, which Rajasthan were knocked out of in the second qualifier game by Sunrisers Hyderabad.
More recently, however, Kotian found success in the Duleep Trophy, finishing the tournament in the top five wicket-takers with 10 wickets in three matches. He also took 29 wickets at an average of 16.96 in the 2023/24 Ranji Trophy as part of Mumbai's title-winning campaign.
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