Indian captain Virat Kohli’s decision to select pace bowler Shardul Thakur ahead of off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin in the first Test against England has revealed team management’s possible lack of confidence in their batting. India, who decided to field a four-pronged pace attack, have picked just one spinner in Ravindra Jadeja and benched Ashwin, who had recently picked 6/27 in a county game last month and also got four wickets for 45 runs (2/28 & 2/17) across two innings in the World Test Championship final against New Zealand in Southampton in June.
The decision to include Thakur ahead of Ashwin has flummoxed many former players, some of who felt that even if Thakur were to be included, Ashwin should have been picked ahead of Jadeja.
“You don’t have to be a genius to have an opinion on that. Once you go past 6, your job is to pick wickets and bowl,” said former India captain Ajay Jadeja on air as he felt batting cannot be strengthened at the cost of dropping your No. 1 bowler.
He added that even if India were insistent on playing just one spinner and include Thakur as the fourth seamer, the choice of spinner should have been Ashwin.
“He (Ashwin) is the No. 1 spinner. When you are playing one spinner, you pick your No. 1 spinner. He has also scored some runs. He is no mug with the bat,” added Jadeja. “Spinners will come into play a lot more. That is why R Ashwin could have been handy." he said further.
Former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar too expressed surprise but reasoned that Jadeja was picked ahead of Ashwin due to lack of batting depth. “Interesting call – choice of Jadeja over Ashwin. (It is because) they haven’t played Vihari and got Pant at No. 6, aware of (lack of) batting depth,” said Manjrekar on air.
On seaming English tracks where spinners are going to be used sparingly, Ravindra Jadeja, with his restrictive wicket-to-wicket bowling and superior batting, was always going to trump number one tweaker, Ravichandran Ashwin, feels former India spinner Harbhajan Singh.
“I guess if you would have played Ashwin, the tail would have been very long. You didn't know how much spin in fact will be used. Jaddu has bowled three out of 50 overs till tea. So overs that you will use spin, Jaddu can bowl those overs. And why do we jump to conclusion that Jaddu can't be used as a lone spinner,” Harbhajan was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
“And if you look at overseas performances, Jaddu has been a better batsman and has a solid presence in the lower order," Harbhajan, who has played more than 100 Tests for India, said.
Harbhajan feels that Jadeja, with 221 wickets in 52 matches, can never be clubbed as a second choice spinner, at least in overseas conditions where he can bat at No. 7.
“And is it so that Jaddu hasn’t taken wickets? It's the first Test of the series, you want to win but at the same time, you would like to also have your defence prepared. You don’t want to concede advantage on batting front and I feel it’s fine if the team management thinks that way.”
But isn’t it a negative thought process to drop Ashwin, who has 400 plus wickets? “Ideally, if you think that Ashwin is your front-line spinner then he should have played. But if the team management feels that Ashwin's presence makes the lower middle order a bit light, then perhaps they should be allowed to explore that angle too.”
When it comes to overseas conditions, Jadeja, according to Harbhajan, is as good as Ashwin. “If you look at overseas records, there isn't much to choose between Ash and Jaddu. Yes, you would feel hard done by if you have just picked six wickets for Surrey. But the considerations of Test cricket are different. Obviously, with six wickets in last first-class game, he was bound to be confident. But you also don't want a situation, where you are 75 for 5 and Ashwin is walking into bat.”
(with agency inputs)
