'He Is A Wicket-Taking Bowler' : Venkatapathy Raju Questions Ravichandran Ashwin's Exclusion From The First Test Against England

Former Indian spin-bowler Venkatapathy Raju has questioned Ravichandran Ashwin’s omission from the first Test against England in Nottingham. The Indian team left out ace off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin from the eleven, opting for four fast bowlers and one spin-bowling all-rounder in Ravindra Jadeja. But Venkatapathy Raju asserted that Ashwin deserved selection.

While Ravichandran Ashwin remains a very threatening prospect at home, the 34-year old has been equally good overseas. Ashwin played an instrumental role in India’s Test series victory in Australia, followed by earning the man of the series when England visited the sub-continent earlier this year. He snared more than 20 wickets in four Tests and registered a hundred as the hosts won the series 3-1.

Venkatapathy Raju underlined that plenty of discussions surrounded Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, claiming every overseas series sees one spinner facing a problem. The 52-year old recalled the tussle between Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble as well. Hence, Raju feels Ashwin, who is a wicket-taking bowler, should have been the first-choice spinner instead of Jadeja.

“There is a lot of discussion about it. Jadeja comes in as an all-rounder, whenever you go abroad, that is the problem one spinner faces. When Harbhajan was doing well, Sourav got him in and Kumble also had to go through this. We all feel Ashwin should have been a part of the XI, as he is a wicket-taking bowler. Ashwin should have been the first-choice spinner,” Raju stated as quoted by ANI.

Someone with 400 wickets not getting a chance is bound to raise questions: Venkatapathy Raju

Venkatapathy Raju further stated that someone with 400 wickets not receiving a chance would certainly raise questions. He pointed out the contrasting strategies that India and England chose, with the latter not picking any spinner in their eleven.

“Whoever follows cricket, will all have their opinions right? If someone has 400 wickets and is not getting a chance, there will be questions raised and that has already started to happen. But then, the team management is better to judge, England went in without a spinner and the Indian team went in with four seamers and one spinner,” he added.

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