Aakash Chopra On Ravichandran Ashwin Injury: Former Indian cricketer turned broadcaster Aakash Chopra has raised questions over all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin’s fitness. This comes after Washington Sundar’s inclusion into the Indian Cricket Team squad for the second and third Test of the ongoing series against New Zealand.
India was defeated by the Kiwis in the first match of the three-Test series by eight wickets in Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium. This was New Zealand’s first Test win in India since 1988.
While the loss could mostly be blamed on India’s first-inning antics, which saw them get all out for 46, the Men in Blue also failed to stop the leakage of runs and take wickets when required, especially in New Zealand’s first inning.
One of the players who bowled well but did not get many results was Ashwin. The veteran off-spinner bowled 16 overs in the first inning and took one wicket at an economy of 5.88. He conceded a lot of runs towards the end of the BlackCaps inning despite finding some turn.
Now that India has found themselves trailing in the home series, a few changes are being made to the team. The second and third Tests of the series will be played in Pune’s MCA Stadium and Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium, respectively. For these two matches, Washington Sundar has been included in the squad.
Aakash Chopra On Ravichandran Ashwin Injury
Aakash Chopra recently reviewed India’s loss in a video on his YouTube channel. In the video, he mentioned Sundar’s inclusion in the squad. Chopra mentioned how Washington is currently playing for Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy and how he recently scored a 100 against Delhi.
“Washington Sundar’s name has come in the team. It was slightly on unexpected lines, although he scored a century just now. He was playing for Tamil Nadu and beat up Delhi. Sai Sudharsan also beat up Delhi. He scored a double hundred, and Sundar scored a century,” he said.
Aakash then went on to ponder the reasoning behind Sundar’s inclusion. He questioned whether Ashwin, who is the go-to off-spinning all-rounder in the team, is injured. He questioned,
“He (Sundar) has been given a place in the team. The question that comes to mind is – what is the Indian team thinking? Do they want to play another spinner? There were already plenty of fast bowlers in the travelling reserves. Is Ashwin not fully fit?”
Finally, Aakash Chopra discussed how Ravichandran Ashwin bowled only two overs on the final day of the first India vs New Zealand match, asking,
“Was it because of that he was given only two overs on the last day? He was bowled when the match was over. It just did not make sense that you don’t bowl Ashwin at all. What is the logic behind that? Since you didn’t bowl him, is he carrying some niggle and you want Washington Sundar as an almost like-for-like in terms of type of skill?”
The Indian Cricket Team will face New Zealand in the second Test of the series in the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune from October 24-28.
India Squad vs New Zealand for 2nd Test
Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (WK), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Akash Deep, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar.
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