Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has lashed out at the Indian team management for their selection choices during the fourth Test against England at Old Trafford, Manchester. Ashwin expressed frustration over Kuldeep Yadav‘s exclusion, especially after India struggled with the ball on Day 2.
India made a few forced changes in their playing XI, with debutant Anshul Kamboj replacing the injured Akash Deep and Shardul Thakur stepping in for Nitish Kumar Reddy, who was ruled out with a knee injury. However, Ashwin felt the team should have prioritized bowling depth over additional batting strength.
“Ignoring Kuldeep is Blowing My Head Away”
Ashwin strongly felt Kuldeep Yadav’s inclusion could have helped ease the burden on Jasprit Bumrah and a fatigued pace unit.
“𝑶𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝑵𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝑲𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒓 𝑹𝒆𝒅𝒅𝒚 𝒘𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒕 𝑵𝒐.6, 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒏𝒐-𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝑲𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒀𝒂𝒅𝒂𝒗. 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝑩𝒖𝒎𝒓𝒂𝒉’𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒍𝒐𝒂𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒅, 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒚 𝒕𝒂𝒔𝒌,” 𝑨𝒔𝒉𝒘𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝑻𝒖𝒃𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒍. “𝑲𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒀𝒂𝒅𝒂𝒗 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑬𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑻𝒆𝒔𝒕. 𝑰𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚.”
He pointed out that India were stuck relying on Bumrah, with no backup wicket-taking options. The lack of rotation among spinners and the over-reliance on part-timers like Shubman Gill further weakened India’s attack, Ashwin argued.
Batting Obsession Costing India in Tests
Ashwin also criticized the management’s tendency to prioritize batting depth over bowling options, warning that it was backfiring in key Test situations.
“𝑮𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝑬𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 20-30 𝒆𝒙𝒕𝒓𝒂 𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒔 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒂 𝒃𝒊𝒈 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 20 𝒘𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕𝒔. 𝑲𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑻𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒔,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅.
Ashwin highlighted that with Jadeja and Washington Sundar in the lower-middle order, India already had enough batting options. He questioned the point of picking Shardul Thakur if his role was limited to scoring 20-30 runs and bowling just a few overs.
“𝑰𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒖𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝑲𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑? 𝑨𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝑲𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒅𝒐𝒖𝒃𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓’𝒔 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅. 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒓𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅.
Ashwin concluded by saying that while Kuldeep might not have taken five wickets, his unique bowling style and mystery could have at least broken partnerships and added pressure on England’s batting lineup.
India now trails in the match with England in control, and questions are being raised over selection choices that might have cost the visitors a stronger position in the series.
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