Selectors face R Ashwin's selection conundrum

What’s the story?

Lack of proper communication could well lead to Ravichandran Ashwin being left out in the cold, which will take away invaluable red-ball match practice ahead of the all-important England series.

If reports are to believed, the off-spinner had earlier committed himself to playing the one-off Afghanistan Test. Hence, he did not continue his talks with Worcestershire, who were interested in having him over in June. The county have already signed up Travis Head as his replacement.

The details

According to the good folks at The Times of India, the selectors have already spoken to senior players to gauge their preparation mindset ahead of the England series.

While captain Virat Kohli opted to play for Surrey, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ishant Sharma are already playing in England having faced a snub by the IPL franchises.

The two-member Committee of Administrators (CoA) is now planning to go ahead and give as many as eight Test regulars, including Ashwin, rest for the Afghanistan Test, which could well mean the off-spinner will not have any match experience with the red ball.

In case you didn’t know…

The Indian selectors are all set to pick the Test side for the Afghanistan Test on Tuesday, May 8. Also, they will select the squads for the two T20Is in Ireland, the limited-overs leg of the England tour, and the 'A' team tour of England.

What’s next?

If reports do indeed see the light of the day and Ashwin is rested, it will leave the off-spinner only the two India A four-day games against West Indies A in Leicester and Croydon between June 10 and 20 before the England Test series.

Author’s take

Lack of communication has been the biggest scourge for the BCCI over the years and once again this has reared up which could well be the reason for India's biggest match-winner over the past 15 months cooling his heels when he is available to take part in the Test match.

Also, owing to the T20 calendar in July, there will be no red-ball cricket in England before India's Test in England which will once again deprive the specialists to get valuable match practice.