I Was Being Rested For The Sri Lanka Series, Says Ravichandran Ashwin 1

While revealing that playing county cricket was a dream for him, India’s spin spearhead Ravichandran Ashwin has confirmed he was rested and not dropped for the ongoing limited-overs series in Sri Lanka.

An indispensable part of the Test team, Ashwin has not featured prominently in ODIs in recent times. Since 2015 World Cup, India have played 40 ODIs but the off-spinner has featured in just 15, taking 17 wickets at 40.58. And the recent turn of events have made many believe that the 30-year is not an important part of team’s plans for the ODIs. He had entered the Champions Trophy in June after taking a staggering 82 wickets in the mammoth home season but was benched for the first two games of the tournament before the selectors sprung a huge surprise by leaving him out of the ODI series against Sri Lanka.

The decision baffled many with several former cricketers including Sourav Ganguly and Harbhajan Singh also expressing their surprise over Ashwin being not part of the team. The selectors claimed that Ashwin was rested and not dropped but the latter’s decision to play county cricket for Worcestershire raised few eyebrows.

However, the Tamil Nadu ace has made it clear that he has been rested and decided to play county cricket to get the experience. Explaining the reason behind his sudden decision to play county cricket, Ashwin said that he is not only eyeing the next year’s tour of England but also wanted to gain the ‘must-do experience’.

“It’s not just about next year,” Ashwin told ESPNcricinfo. “It’s always been a dream to play county cricket. I grew-up watching it on TV in India and it has always meant a lot. Spinners have come before and told me it is a must-do experience. I was being rested from a series [against Sri Lanka], so I thought I might as well come here to get experience.

“But yes, next year was in the back of my mind and the back of the mind of the team management back home. With the pace with which the international cricket calendar is set-up, you don’t have a long time to prepare. That might even cost you a Test match. So these experiences can be banked upon and, if you can learn faster – which I pride myself upon – the results can come a bit faster,” he added.

Ashwin, meanwhile, made an impressive start to his county career, taking 3 for 94 against Gloucestershire.

Talking about his availability for the county outfit, Ashwin admitted that he might get a call-up for the five-match ODI series against Australia but said that he has given an indication that he can play all the remaining for games for the team.

“I could be called to play in the Australia series,” Ashwin said “But I have indicated to Bumpy [Steve Rhodes, the Worcestershire direct of cricket] that I will be available for all four games. As of now, there are no communication channels open but they will be short so I’ll probably get a clearer idea after the Sri Lanka series.”

In case, Ashwin is included in the squad for the series against Australia, he will manage to play just two Championship games- the ongoing one and the next one against Nottinghamshire from September 5.