England vs India 2018: Ravichandran Ashwin is the Reason Behind India’s 1-3 Defeat – Harbhajan Singh
Sep 7, 2018 at 6:39 PM
The difference between Moeen Ali and Ravichandran Ashwin is the perfect example that what a mindset can do to a player. Moeen Ali ended up bagging man of the match award in Southampton while R Ashwin received criticism for his spell. Meanwhile, Harbhajan Singh joins the list to blame Ashwin for the series loss.
Ravichandran Ashwin was struggling with his fitness ahead of the fourth Test but managed to find a place in the side.
Despite pitch assisting for the spinners, Ashwin failed to deliver the goods for the team thus letting the side down.
Ravichandran Ashwin not being able to take wickets is the reason for the loss – Harbhajan Singh
The veteran off-spinner explained the reason behind Ashwin’s failure in the series. He compared him to Moeen Ali, who bowled exceptionally to rattle the defence of the Indian batsman often than not.
Harbhajan added he has never seen any overseas spinner bowling so well compared to the Indian spinner.
He went on to blame Ravichandran Ashwin for the loss of the series, as Ashwin failed to execute his plans.
“India lost the match where Moeen Ali bowled better than R Ashwin. For the first time, I saw England spinners bowling better than our spinners. Him (Ashwin) not being able to take wickets is the reason why we are 1-3 behind in the series,” said the veteran Harbhajan Singh.
“Moeen Ali was making a comeback in the England team and won the Man of the Match award. He is a very good bowler though does not rate himself so highly. He will always bowl better than the rest as his trajectory is very good. Indian team has not been able to find any solution to his bowling since 2014 when he performed exceptionally well against us at the same venue,” Harbhajan said.
Ravi Ashwin might miss the fifth Test –
Meanwhile, the lack of fitness might see Ashwin missing the fifth Test at The Kennington Oval, London. He is struggling with his groin injury, and probably, Ravindra Jadeja might replace him.