R Ashwin, India’s leading Test spinner, was left out of the Playing XI for the series opener in Nottingham, which sparked a debate and raised a few eyebrows. The off-spinner has been in excellent form recently, taking five wickets for Surrey against Somerset in a County Championship match. Despite this, Virat Kohli and the team management decided that Ravindra Jadeja would be a better fit with four fast bowlers and one spinner.
R Ashwin, India’s leading Test spinner, was left out of the playing XI for the series opener in Nottingham, which sparked a debate and raised a few eyebrows. The off spinner has been in superb form recently, taking five wickets for Surrey against Somerset in a County Championship match. Nonetheless, Virat Kohli and the team management decided that Ravindra Jadeja would be a better fit with four fast bowlers and one spinner.
“I’m surprised; I’m very surprised. I think the England cricket team might be having a little smile in that dressing room and thinking ‘we’re happy with Ashwin not playing’. He got runs with the bat; he was unbelievable with the ball in India. Ashwin has got a ridiculous number of wickets in English conditions. He played County cricket, got six wickets against Surrey not long ago,” Harmison said on ESPNCricinfo.
“India could beat themselves by not picking the right side. We’re talking about two senior spin bowlers who have bowled a lot of overs in Test cricket, who understand the game, who control the game even if the ball is not turning and still have a positive impact. So for me, as an English man, I’m over the moon with this Indian team because I think Ravichandran Ashwin should have been playing for India, alongside Jadeja,” he added.
