Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin, Nick Compton
Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin, Nick Compton. Image Credits: Twitter

Ravichandran Ashwin Isn’t Playing For India In England As Virat Kohli Has Personal Issues With Him Alleges Nick Compton. England and India clashed in the fourth Test of the five-match series at the Oval in London. England captain Joe Root won the toss and chose to bowl first. However, the cricket fraternity and Indian cricket fans were in for a shock when Virat Kohli revealed India playing XI for the match.

Everyone was expecting the inclusion of off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin in the playing XI, especially after the poor bowling show in Leeds. Also, Ashwin had picked a 6-fer and seven wickets in total for Surrey in a match against Somerset in July on this same ground.

However, much to the surprise of everyone, Kohli’s India playing XI didn’t include Ravichandran Ashwin, and instead, Shardul Thakur came in for Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav replaced Mohammad Shami.

Ravichandran Ashwin
Ravichandran Ashwin (Image Credit: Twitter)

Nick Compton Alleges That Virat Kohli’s Personal Issues With Ravichandran Ashwin Keeping Him Out Of The India Playing XI

While explaining his reason for leaving Ravi Ashwin out and keeping Ravindra Jadeja in the team, Kohli said that since England has some left-handed players, Jadeja would be a better match-up for them. However, this reasoning was not accepted by many as Ravi Ashwin has dismissed the most left-handers in Test cricket.

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In fact, Ashwin is the only bowler in Test history to dismiss 200 plus left-handed batsmen in the format.

This has led to wild speculations of a rift between Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin, who had not played a single Test match in the ongoing series, despite being the no.2 ranked bowler in the latest ICC Test rankings for bowlers.

Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli (Image: Twitter)

Former England opener Nick Compton fanned the speculations on Twitter and said that Virat Kohli obviously has personal issues with Ravi Ashwin and hence his selection has been clouded by the same.

“Please can someone explain how Kohli obvious personal issues with Ashwin are allowed to cloud an obvious selection issue? #india,” Compton tweeted.

Meanwhile, Joe Root’s decision to bowl first came good as Chris Woakes’ 4/55 and Ollie Robinson’s three wickets routed India for just 191 runs in the first innings. Only Virat Kohli, who scored a half-century and Shardul Thakur managed to England bowlers at bay.

Shardul Thakur actually smashed the second-fastest Test half-century in Tests by an Indian and the fastest ever in England in Tests, as he reached the milestone in 31 balls. His 36-ball 57 knock had 7 fours and 3 sixes and he added 63 valuable runs with Umesh Yadav for the 8th wicket to take India to a respectable total.

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Also Read: England vs India 2021: Aakash Chopra Justifies The Selection Of Ravindra Jadeja Over R Ashwin