ICC Champions Trophy 2017: R Ashwin could feature in playing XI against South Africa

What’s the story?

If initial pictures from India’s net session at the Oval is to be believed, ace off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is all set to feature in the knockout clash against South Africa on Sunday.

Two wise men watching Ashwin in action at the nets in sunny London #fb #CT17 pic.twitter.com/2kq3hOsh8G

— Anand Vasu (@anandvasu) June 10, 2017

Ashwin, who made his comeback into the Indian squad after missing out on the entire IPL season, has not yet got a game in the tournament so far and after India's meek bowling performance against Sri Lanka, there have been clarion calls made to include the off-spinner in the playing XI as he would give India a wicket-taking option in the middle overs.

The Details

The Tamil Nadu man could replace either Kedar Jadhav or Hardik Pandya, but owing to the balance Pandya renders to the team, he could well force Jadhav to sit out.

After the loss against Sri Lanka, captain Kohli did not sound too pleased with the bowling performance, and although he admitted that he believed that the score they put up on the board seemed to be enough, Sri Lankan batsmen deserve credit for the way they chased the target in the end.

Kohli also spoke about India pushing a lit bit harder during the middle overs and look for those extra 20 runs in the match against South Africa as it would provide the team cushion in the crunch match.

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However, India have following the same template over the past season where they have batted with caution at the outset and have slowly increased the scoring rate through the middle overs. The platform has then been capitalised on by the power hitters in the final 10 overs. This has yielded dividends for the team as they have managed a score upwards 300 on 5 successive occasions.

What's next?

Having said that, the Indian bowling did not look penetrative enough in the match on a flat bowling deck and this allowed the Sri Lankan batsmen to chase down the target of 321 with ease.

Ashwin hence by all probabilities will feature in the Playing XI as along with Jadeja, he could form a potent combination which would allow Kohli to attack right through the middle overs.

Author’s take

Ashwin has had a stellar run with the Indian team all through the home season and after having missed the IPL, he should be raring to go in the crunch match against South Africa.

Also, he has the ability to pick up wickets, a trait which is much needed on flat decks as only wickets could impede the scoring rate of the opposition team.