Even before the start of the second Test in Perth, India suffered a huge setback when their spin spearhead R Ashwin was ruled out of the game with an injury. Prior to that, he had starred for the visitors in the opening Test in Adelaide. The off-spinner had taken 6 wickets as India beat Australia by 31 runs to take the lead in the four-match series. In the first innings, he accounted for Marcus Harris, Usman Khawaja and Shaun Marsh to leave Australia reeling at 87 for 4. Even in the second innings, he dismissed Aaron Finch and Khawaja to put India in the driver’s seat. He went on to take the last Australian wicket as India beat the hosts in a thriller.
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But he could not play the second Test in Perth due to an injury and India paid the price for it as Australia won the game by 146 runs to level the series. Off-spinner Nathan Lyon picked up 8 wickets in the game, showing that the pitch had a lot to offer to the spinners. And Ashwin is now also missing the crucial ongoing third Test in Melbourne. The spinner failed to regain full fitness, compelling the team-management to pick Ravindra Jadeja in the playing eleven.
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And now former India skipper Sourav Ganguly has expressed his concerns over Ashwin’s fitness. Ganguly also said that Ashwin needs to take care of his fitness.
“Ravichandran Ashwin is worrying me now. He can’t be the premier spinner and get injured so many times on big tours: England, South Africa, and now Australia. The team needs him against left-handers but it looks like he will be sitting out now. He is not doing his reputation any good,” Ganguly wrote in his column for the Times of India.
This is the fourth Test Ashwin is missing out of the 11 overseas Tests India have played this year. He did not get a chance in the playing eleven for the Johannesburg Test before missing the last Test in England with a groin injury.