Tanush Kotian’s 8/84 strengthens case for Test selection
On the fourth day of the Ranji Trophy match between Mumbai and Haryana at the MCA BKC Ground in Mumbai, Tanush Kotian finished an innings with figures of 8/84 as Mumbai recorded a convincing win; the outing included career-best figures in an innings and in the match.
Kotian remains the subject of debate over his role, with questions persisting about whether he should be classified as a batting all-rounder or a spin-bowling all-rounder; he has yet to establish himself in T20 cricket and says he gives equal importance to both disciplines while national selectors have typically viewed him primarily as a bowling all-rounder.
The performance produced Kotian’s maiden ten-wicket match haul and represented the first time he had bowled more than 65 overs in a match. Speaking after the game, Kotian said: “I was waiting for this opportunity. I was trying to bowl as much as I could. This is the first time I have bowled this much in a match. I am giving the captain confidence that I can bowl this much and can get that many wickets as well.”
Kotian said he had worked before the season on varying angles and deliveries and executed that plan by bowling around the wicket for long spells. Three of his eight wickets — Parth Vats, Aman Kumar and Ajith Chahal — fell when he operated from around the wicket.
He credited advice from Nathan Lyon gained during a brief stint with India’s Test squad in Australia in 2024-25 for specific technical adjustments. Kotian said: “(In Australia), you get extra bounce, so how can I bowl more over-spin balls, Lyon guided me. Also, with the run-up and how to use the over-spin. Whatever I learnt there, I am working on that and working with seam positions and variations, so that is helping.”
Kotian’s 8/84 is the best bowling spell by a Mumbai offspinner, bettering Ramesh Powar’s 7/55 against Bengal in 2004-05, and it is the best bowling performance by a Mumbai bowler in First-Class cricket since Ankeet Chavan’s 9/23 against Punjab in 2012-13. Photo credit on the published report was Emmanual Yogini.
“I don’t know about BGT, that’s up to the selectors,” Kotian said, adding he was not ruffled over Saransh Jain having been preferred as the India offspinner for the tour to Sri Lanka; his latest display provided national selectors yet another reminder to consider him for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy squad early next year.
