Ravichandran Ashwin was not given place in final XI in the Antigua Test Match. For a very long he has not been given the place limited-overs game. Ashwin has proved to be a crucial player in Test Matches against West Indies. But it is astonishing to know that the tall off-spinner was not given place in the opening Test match against West Indies.
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Ravindra Jadeja was only the spinner who was given place in the match as the player has shown fantastic performance. But if compared to him, Ashwin has some impressive record against West Indies.
Jadeja was more prefered than Ashwin
When asked about this decision, Ajinkay Rahane, the vice-captain of India Test team, opined that the captain and Coach both saw overall balance in the team according to the field. So this decision was taken.
“It’s difficult when you miss a player like Ashwin but team management is always thinking as to what is the best combination. They thought Jadeja was a good option on this wicket as we needed a sixth batsman, who can actually bowl. Vihari can actually bowl on this track. So that was the communication between captain and coach,” Rahane said after the first day’s play in Antigua.
Not only Ashwin but also Rohit Sharma was not considered for playing in the opening match despite his decent performance in practice match.
“It is hard to find players like Ashwin and Rohit (Sharma) sit out but’s all for the team,” Rahane said on the Hitman’s absence.
If we see the Test record of Ashwin against West Indies in both home ground and West Indies soil, he has scored 552 runs with four hundred and has taken 60 wickets in total. Though he mostly missed the last Test series against Australia because of his injuries then also his records show that he deserved the place.
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Yesterday match didn’t give any productive output as the top order batsmen were out early. Only Rahane was the high scorer in that day with an 81-run knock.