R Ashwin may lose his spot to Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal for upcoming England Tour
Test regular Ravichandran Ashwinâs new leg-spin strategy, which has made him even more inconsistent, might cost his place for the forthcoming England Tour in July, revealed a top BCCI source. He has also added that Virat Kohli is not merciful even on himself when it comes to the fitness regime.
Leg-spinner turned off-spinner, R
On Thursday, Ashwin went for 53 runs in four overs without taking a wicket against Sunrisers Hyderabad as he stuck to leg-spin. TOI reported that a reliable source, close to the selection panel in Indian cricket, revealed that Ashwinâs latest tactic is not doing him any
âWe feel very sad and concerned about it. He tries too many things. We donât know, and itâs difficult to understand why heâs trying this tactic. Itâs ok to try leg spin as a variation once in a while in a T20 match, but heâs experimenting with this in every game - be it in the IPL, Ranji Trophy or even the Irani Cup. In Irani, he was bowling leg spin from over and round the stumps. In a T20 game, variation is fine, but have you ever seen an off-spinner doing this? He canât suddenly become a leg-spinner,â a close source told TOI.Â
Playing in an Irani Cup match at Nagpur, Ashwin bowled leg-spin, gave away 129 runs in 43.3 overs while taking just one wicket. The source also admits that the roads ahead will be tougher for Ashwin if he doesnât sort these things out. ,
âIf he continues like this, heâll find himself out of the team sooner than later. If his performance doesnât improve, things look tough for him. The England series is very crucial for him in terms of his future in Test cricket,â the official added.Â
The source also revealed that the way two Young Wrist spinners Kuldeep and Chahal are performing in limited overs cricket, the time has come to try them in England as well.
âWe must remember that Ashwin has taken more than 300 Test wickets, but the time has come to blood Kuldeep and Chahal in Tests. Both are doing pretty well in the ODIs & T20Is. The way these young wrist spinners are bowling, picking up wickets regularly in limited over games, they may have a better opportunity (to succeed) in England too,â he asserted.
It is known to all, Ashwin developed wrist spin to compete with the likes of Chahal and Yadav, but the source made it clear that even that may not help his case to win back his spot in Indiaâs limited overs side since he is falling well short on the parameters of fitness and fielding.
âWhen you talk about limited-overs cricket, he isnât even close to being an option. Itâs not just about his bowling. His fielding is below-par. He doesnât fit into the limited overs team. We need super-fit players in T20s and One-day cricket. Basic skills come later, but when it comes to the minimum acceptable fitness standards, Virat Kohli isnât âmercifulâ