Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja not dropped, we wanted variety in spin bowling, says MSK Prasad
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BCCI chief selector MSK Prasad has stated that veteran spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were not dropped but the board wanted a variety in spin bowling in the short format. He also stated that the only way to come back into the national team is performing well in domestic cricket.
While Jadeja has made a comeback in the limited overs format now as India were seen using the all-rounder in the ODI series against Australia after a breakthrough in Asia Cup last year, there hasnât been any such luck for his Test bowling partner, Ashwin.
The last time Ashwin had played in an ODI was back on June 30, 2017, against West Indies, where the spinner had done reasonably well to take three wickets and conceding 28 runs in 10 overs. Ashwinâs last T20I was back in July, the same year, against West Indies again, although this time he had ended up conceding the third highest number of runs.
Both the wrist spinners - Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal - had made their debuts in the senior side by then and with them slowly getting a foothold with every match, Ashwin could never really get a chance again, which has been over two years now. Chairman of selectors MSK Prasad has, however, revealed that it wasnât the finger spinnersâ poor performance or the wrist spinnersâ good displays that kept Ashwin or Jadeja out of ODIs and T20Is.Â
âIt is not that Ashwin and Jadeja were dropped. They were definitely doing a reasonably good job. But we actually wanted variety in our spin bowling department,â said Prasad, reported The Indian Express.
âIn the quest for that variety, we have unearthed Kuldeep and Chahal, who have done extremely well so far. Today we are happy and confident that we have enough bench strength [Kuldeep, Chahal, Ashwin, Jadeja, Gowtham, Washington Sundar, Jayant Yadav, Axar Patel, Shahbaz Nadeem, Mayank Markande] in the spin department who are all competent enough,â he added.
Yadav and Chahal have jointly taken 159 wickets in ODIs and 81 wickets in T20Is leaving Ashwin no window whatsoever to make a comeback. And Yadav had previously stated that neither he nor Chahal kept any of their seniors out of the team.
âNo, no, not at all. We havenât ousted anyone. Itâs just that we have got the opportunities and we did well. They [Ashwin and Jadeja] have always been doing well for India. In Test matches, Ash [Ravichandran Ashwin] and Jaddu Bhai [Ravindra Jadeja] are still playing,â Kuldeep had said earlier, reported Scroll.
However, despite being absent from the national side for so many months, Ashwin still featured in some of the punditsâ ideal World Cup squad ahead of the tournament in June. And Prasad still kept Ashwinâs return open by stating that performances in the domestic circuit would be the ideal way to make a comeback for any Indian player.
âIndia is such a vast country and once a player is dropped, there are many waiting in the queue. This uncertainty creates doubt in their minds. But my advice is that the only thing that is in playersâ hands is to go back to domestic cricket and perform enough to make a comeback. Mohinder Amarnath and VVS Laxman are perfect examples, who scored heavily in domestic cricket whenever they were dropped and got back into the main team with ease,â he continued.
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