Former India women’s captain, Anjum Chopra has recently expressed her thoughts on the exclusion of Ravichandran Ashwin.
India suffered a massive defeat of 209 runs against Australia in the high-octane clash.
However, fans and cricket experts alike are still outraged over India’s exclusion of Ravichandran Ashwin from the mega clash.
Meanwhile, Chopra has stated that Ashwin is a quality spinner and cannot be excluded from the Test team.
Said Chopra in an interview,
Absolutely! I definitely felt that. In fact, my playing XI did have (Ravichandran) Ashwin there. I’m not saying that you can’t play four pacers, it’s nothing of that sort, but I always felt that irrespective of the conditions, had India lost the toss and we were asked to bat, we would have struggled to think, ‘Oh! Now what do we do?’ I’m pretty sure that the team management thought through the decision.
Adding further, she says,
As a player, I would have always kept Ashwin in that line-up, just because, I think he is a quality bowler and irrespective of the conditions, he can deliver the goods. And he’s absolutely in isolation, just looking at his skill level and the records the Indian team has had with him in the playing XI.
Ashwin is the leading wicket-taker for India against Australia in Tests
Meanwhile, the wicket at The Oval was a changing track as was seen on all five days of the solitary Test between Australia and India.
However, India decided to go in with four pacers in Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, and Mohammed Siraj.
Additionally, they chose only Ravindra Jadeja as the lone spinner in the playing XI and ruled out Ashwin completely.
Moreover, Ashwin has a great Test record against Australia wherein he has 114 wickets to his name in 22 matches.
Also, he has 7 fifers, 3 four-fors, and 1 ten-wicket haul in Test against the Aussies. Still, India didn’t pick him for the high-octane clash.
On the other hand, Ashwin is also the No.1 Test bowler in ICC’s Test rankings.
Meanwhile, India is enjoying a month-long break from cricket and will be back in action for the series against West Indies starting next month.
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