Opinion | Why is Ashwin always the first to be axed from the Indian cricket team?

"In a perfect world, you want to win the toss and bat first because of the variety they have in their attack. Both should play." (Danny Morrison, former fast bowler New Zealand)

These are some of the voices that made their pick ahead of India’s tour of England. Ashwin’s exclusion from the Indian playing XI in tests has always been a point of contention. When you drop the number two ranked player in tests from the playing eleven, it is bound to raise some eyebrows. But, more than Ashwin being dropped, it is the manner in which he is being dropped that is irksome. He almost always seems to be dropped, whenever there is the slightest of pressure on player selection. Normally, your best players are automatically guaranteed a place, but with Ashwin the opposite is the norm.

Kohli spoke about a ‘new template’ in his post-match presentation which left no one in doubt that even if Ashwin is currently the best spinner in the world, he is unlikely to be an automatic choice in the playing XI in the coming matches. “Most likely it will be a template going ahead in the series as well, but again, adaptability has been a strength of ours, especially when we have played away from home,” Kohli said. “So, look, we need to adapt quickly according to what’s in front of us, pitches, conditions, pace of the wicket and so on, but yes, this looks like the right template for us moving forward.” Thakur is now injured and ruled out for Lord’s Test and regardless of the fact whether Ashwin finds a place in the playing eleven, point remains that he is the first one to be axed.

First of all, the inherent bias of cricket which certainly is a big factor when it comes to picking the best player in the playing XI is that it rarely questions the inclusion of a batsman who is a subcontinental bully in SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia) countries. However, the same is not the case with the bowlers, particularly the spinners. By conventional wisdom, Ashwin should unquestionably be the third player (if not the first despite 413 Test wickets in just 79 matches) in the team-sheet after captain Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah irrespective of the conditions in Test cricket. “When you say that Ashwin is not doing well outside India, he is still providing you the control. He may not be picking as many wickets, but his presence is still felt. It is not always the wicket that gives you the command. At times you must set in sessions. In batting-friendly conditions, you must find a way to exist, and he has been outstanding for Kohli,” argues Ramiz Raja.

One of the arguments in picking Jadeja ahead of Ashwin could be the latter being a better batsman (in overseas Tests since 2018, Jadeja’s average is 40.5 while Ashwin's 16.68.), besides being the only other left-hander (apart from Rishabh Pant). Although, no one says it publicly, there is a view in the Indian management which is always skeptical of Ashwin lasting a full series of four or more matches in red-ball cricket. Evidently, Ashwin’s fitness record in the past also works against him. It could also be that Kohli and Ravi Shastri decided that it’s better to wait for a little more friendly pitch like the Oval (London) where India could be playing the decisive match of the series. “You have got Ravindra Jadeja, fit and firing. The balance of the teams would be interesting, and I think India has got some great options in spin. A lot will depend on the pitches,” says former England captain Gower. “I know that conditions are going to be different but the kind of experience he (Ashwin) has, with the kind of form he is in, all the five bowlers should play,” adds MSK Prasad.

On his last tour of England in 2018, Ashwin began the series on a high but as the series progressed, he struggled with his fitness and ended with just 11 wickets in four matches. His failure was accentuated by England’s part-time spinner Moeen Ali who got more wickets (12) than Ashwin by playing just half the matches (two). Even though, India was very competitive in the last series against England in 2018, they still lost by a margin of 4-1. One of the main reasons for the defeat was Kohli-Shastri’s baffling choices for the playing XIs by often misreading the pitch conditions and subsequently picking a wrong XI. For instance, on a green top at Lord’s, the team included an additional spinner in Kuldeep Yadav alongside Ashwin. However, the majority of pundits are almost unanimous in their verdict that if it comes to picking five bowlers, Ashwin has to be there. “It’s definitely a great move that India wants to go with five bowlers and they also don't want to weaken their batting. Even by that logic, Ashwin and Jadeja should play as they are good batting options too in the lower order,” says former India opener Aakash Chopra.  “Jadeja is magical, but I would prefer a regular spinner like Ashwin,” says Ramiz Raja.

Some of the critics like Sanjay Manjrekar may still have hesitation in calling Ashwin an all-time-great but the off-spinner from Chennai showed in Australia last year that if you can get the big wickets of Steven Smith and Marnus Labuschagne consistently, it is a far better contribution than a numerical five wicket haul where four wickets can be of lower-order batsmen. Ashwin also silenced all his critics when he looked far superior to Nathan Lyon on that historic tour. In the WTC final, Ashwin looked in great touch with the ball (no spinner has better record than him since the start of 2018, outside Asia and the West Indies). Yes, with bat he may not be as assured as Jadeja but even the specialist batters like Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane are never doubtful to feature in the first two matches against England despite averaging nearly 25 in England. But then, conventional logic hardly applies to good batsmen but someone like Ashwin who is indisputably one of India’s all-time-great will have to go through this examination of proving himself again and again.