Ashwin: One of the best, but still not considered good enough

Curious to know why R Ashwin was unable to secure a spot in India's playing XI for the first test match against England? Read on!

Virat Kohli always tries to surprise the opposition by having some surprise picks in the squad, especially ahead of big matches. However, when the Indian squad was announced for the first test match against England at Trent Bridge, there was a huge rue and cry for picking Ravindra Jadeja over Ravichandran Ashwin.

With all due respect to the Indian captain, the fans were not completely wrong this time. It was pretty simple, if India had to pick one spinner, it would have to be Ashwin. It is disappointing to plead a case for him, when his performances have been nothing short of phenomenal in the recent past.

Be it the Australian tour, the home series of India against England, or even the World Test Championship final (remember who got us the first break-through?), here is a champion bowler who has been in roaring form. All cricketing experts consider him one of the legends of Indian cricket.

A few months back, Sri Lankan legend Muttiah Muralitharan mentioned that among the current pool of spinners in world cricket, he could only see Ashwin having the potential to pick up more than 800 test wickets.

What is the logic behind leaving Ashwin out of the first test against England?

Unfortunately, that does not seem to be enough for him to be made part of the Indian squad. Trent Bridge's pitch was green, and it is quite understandable that the Indian team wanted to go with four pacers. Fair enough, that made complete sense.

However, they were also worried about their batting unit because of the recent disappointing performances, which led them to think of having depth in their batting. Again, completely logical. So why not play a proper batsman?

Hanuma Vihari would have perfectly fit the bill, considering he is capable of bowling a few overs of spin as well, if need be. But if India wanted a specialist spinner, then without an iota of doubt, Ashwin should have been their first choice.

I have nothing against Ravindra Jadeja - he is one of India's finest all-rounders across all formats. I do not belong to Sanjay Manjarekar's school of thought that Jadeja is neither a specialist batsman, nor a specialist bowler.

In fact, Jadeja's performances in the recent past have spoken enough to shut down all the criticism he may have gotten earlier.

One needs to understand that it is not a debate of who versus who. Both Ashwin & Jadeja are great players, but Ashwin undoubtedly is the better spinner. At the same time, Ashwin is not a typical tail-ender per se.

He has batting capabilities, although not the same as Jadeja. He can hang around (score hundreds!), he is definitely not among those who throw away their wickets.

The bigger question is, what does the Indian management want from Ashwin to ensure his place in the playing XI? While the other Indian team members took a break after the WTC final (which is perfectly understandable due to the pressure of living in bio-bubbles for long periods of time), here we have a senior Indian player who chose to play county cricket to be well prepared for the upcoming series.

It must also be taken into account that Ashwin is at his best during the start of a test series, which has always been the case. What message does the Indian management give to Ashwin by not playing him in the first test match? Wouldn't it affect his confidence?

In conclusion, it was rather shocking to see India's best spinner sit-out the all-important first game. Irrespective of the result, it was a wrong decision and more importantly, unfair on Ashwin. Will the Indian management even think of treating their other star players in the same fashion? Something to ponder upon.