Sourav Ganguly Surprised With Exclusion Of R Ashwin, Rohit Sharma For 1st West Indies Test

Indian skipper Virat Kohli made few surprising picks for the 1st Test of the series against West Indies as there was no place for R Ashwin. Rohit Sharma, who made his comeback to the Test side on the Australia tour in 2018/19, also failed to make it to the playing XI.

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Reacting to the omission of both the players from the team, Ganguly said that he was surprised not to see them in the playing XI.

“Yes, I was surprised that the team did not pick Ashwin and Rohit. I was also surprised to see Kuldeep Yadav was left out because the last Test he played against Australia (4th Test in Sydney where Kuldeep picked 5/99 in the first innings), if you remember in Sydney, on a good flat pitch, he picked up five wickets,” he said.

Ashwin wasn’t a confirmed selection in the playing XI as youngster teenager Kuldeep Yadav had performed well in the absence of the senior. Surprisingly, there was no place for Kuldeep in the side as well. India went in with Ravindra Jadeja as the sole spinner for the opening Test.

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Ashwin had a great tour to West Indies in 2016 as he scored 235 runs and scalped 17 wickets to win the Player of the Series award. His fitness issues over past two foreign tours have seen him lose his place in the side and it remains to be seen if Kuldeep gets preference over him whenever India will go in with a second spinner.

Talking of Rohit, he had done well on the tour of Australia but Hanuma Vihari’s bowling went in his favour. In his short career so far, the 25-year-old has shown that he can bowl if needed. Since India have only gone in with one spinner, the presence of Vihari will give Kohli an opportunity to throw the ball at him if the situation demands.

India did not have a great start on day 1 of the Test. The visitors lost three wickets at 25, with West Indies bowlers making most out of the conditions that favoured them. Ajinkya Rahane and KL Rahul took control of the situation and shared 68 runs for the fourth wicket. Rahane was dismissed for 81.

On day 2, India lost an early wicket of Rishabh Pant (24 off 47). They are 250/7 after 84 overs.