The present number one off-spinner in the World, Ravichandran Ashwin has been left out of India versus England - 4th Test at the Oval in London. Ravindra Jadeja will continue playing as the batting all-rounder. This is the fourth time in a row that the cricketer has been ignored, and many cricket fans and experts are not happy about the decision. On September 2, England skipper Joe Root won the toss and elected to bowl against India in the fourth Test at the Oval.
Both teams of the Playing XI introduced some changes. India made two changes with Umesh Yadav replacing Ishant Sharma and Shardul Thakur coming in place of Mohammed Shami. Both Sharma and Shami are suffering from minor injuries. England also made two changes, bringing in Ollie Pope in place of Jos Buttler, while fit-again Chris Woakes replaced Sam Curran. Buttler missed out to be with his wife, who is due to give birth to their second child.
Ashwin was earlier benched for three consecutive Test matches and was replaced with Jadeja. While Ashwin has been a successful and vital component of the Indian Test set-up, he is yet to get his place in the first 11 in the ongoing series. Given the conditions of English pitches, captain Virat Kohli might have gone with Jadeja over Ashwin as the latter is likely to be more useful with the bat.
India’s captain Virat Kohli reasoned that left-arm spinner Jadeja is as good an option against four left-handers in the English line-up using the rough created by the fast bowlers.
The five-match series is currently tied 1-1 after England won the third Test by an innings and 76 runs at Leeds.
Team India will have the following players: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli(c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
Team England will have the following players: Rory Burns, Haseeb Hameed, Dawid Malan, Joe Root(c), Ollie Pope, Jonny Bairstow(w), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Craig Overton, Ollie Robinson, James Anderson.
Team India’s decision to ignore Ashwin is being slammed by many experts and fans.
English cricket commentator and former cricketer Michael Paul Vaughan said, “The non-selection of Ashwin has to be the greatest NON-selection we have ever witnessed across 4 Tests in the UK!!! 413 Test wickets and 5 Test 100s!!!! #ENGvIND Madness.”
In response, Australian cricket commentator and former international cricketer Mark Waugh, said, "Makes you wonder if the Indian think tank has any clue.#unfathomable.”
Indian sports journalist Gaurav Kalra said, "India's bench in this test of Ashwin, Ishant and Shami have many more test wickets combined than the five-man attack chosen to do duty!"
I can't believe they left out Ashwin again, on England's most spin-friendly ground. This team is unbelievable. You pick your five best bowlers, @ashwinravi99 has to be the first or second name. Omitting him & @MdShami11 at the Oval is like a death-wish -- as if you want to lose!
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) September 2, 2021
Ravichandran Ashwin remains unselected. Ashwin took 7-126 for Surrey against Somerset at the Oval earlier this summer, and was the leading wicket-taker in the India v England series earlier this year. #ENGvIND
— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst) September 2, 2021
Impossible to see Ashwin's continued absence as anything other than a huge act of self-sabotage.
— Rory Dollard (@thervd) September 2, 2021
India may well win, they are really good after all, but it's just way too clever by half to leave out your 400-wicket, 5 century guy.
I really hope it works but I am flabbergasted that India have gone in without Ashwin again.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) September 2, 2021
Earlier, the Indian team's bowling coach Bharat Arun had said did not rule out the possibility of playing both Ashwin and Jadeja, and had said that the team management will look at the pitch before deciding on it. "It depends on the conditions. Depends on so many other things, the wicket, the conditions and all these things. Ashwin, no doubt, is one of the best bowlers we have. But it is unfortunate he has not played so far. But if there is an opportunity and if we feel that he is going to fit into the scheme of things, they definitely would both be bowling in tandem," Arun had said.
On Wednesday, September 1, in his column for The Telegraph, Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik had said that the time was ripe for Ashwin to make his first appearance in the ongoing Test series at The Oval. Ashwin's last outing at The Oval came in July while playing for Surrey in the County Championship. He had 1/99 and 6/27 in the match against Somerset.
Explaining the advantage Ashwin will bring if he plays in the fourth Test, Dinesh Karthik said, “England have two left-handers in their top three and three in the top seven. The off-spinner's record against lefties is second to none, and he is more than handy against the right-handers, who he tests with the knuckleball and the floater that he has mastered through hours of diligent practice away from the harsh spotlight of the international game.”
"In Australia, Ashwin got excellent drift with the Kookaburra ball, getting it to curl away from the right-hander in the air and break back on pitching. That's how he had Steve Smith caught at leg-slip in the second Test in Melbourne. He is equally comfortable switching to around the stumps and getting the ball to go away with the angle, a trick that netted him the prized scalps of Smith and Marnus Labuschagne, Australia's two best batsmen."
"If I was Virat Kohli, I'd like to bring a new dimension into play in this crucial Test. As Ashwin has shown in his storied career, he hasn't necessarily relied on assistance from the surface to make an impact," added Karthik.
(With IANS and PTI input)