ENG vs IND: India Should Have Played Ravichandran Ashwin In The Final Test - Jatin Paranjape

The Indian cricket team was in a good position in the fifth rescheduled Test against England in Edgbaston, but they couldn’t hold their composure and lost by seven wickets. England recorded their biggest successful chase in Tests of 378 runs, thanks to unbroken centuries from Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow.

Following the defeat, experts speculated that the team makeup should have been different. Jatin Paranjape, a former Indian cricket team player and national selector, believes Ravichandran Ashwin should have been included in the XI.

Ravichandran Ashwin Would Have Given A Little More Control In The Game: Jatin Paranjape

“I don’t think so. You can understand why they picked Bumrah as captain; the powers that be must have thought that Bumrah as a captain is a good choice. Sometimes it is better to err on the side of caution, and that in itself turns out to be a better decision,” Jatin Paranjape said in an interview with senior sports journalist Jamie Alter.

I can understand why they played Shardul because he had done well in the Test match at The Oval where he could have been the Man of the Match. But here you had R Ashwin in the squad.

It is like keeping your Ferrari parked in the garage. The colour of the wicket was not your usual English wicket and Edgbaston is known to turn a little bit, so I thought India could have gone with two spinners. It gives you a little more control over the game if nothing is happening.  Also, when you have three seamers and then you play the fourth one, someone gets under-bowled. You cannot use all four; it just doesn’t come into play. But then hindsight is 20/20 vision,” Paranjape further added.

Ashwin did not get a single game in the series.

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