Ravi Shastri has no regrets about choosing Kuldeep Yadav over Ravichandran Ashwin in the 2019 Sydney Test as he feels the Tamil Nadu off-spinner improved his game in red-ball cricket after that lapse.
Ravichandran Ashwin was going through a tough time in overseas Tests in the 2018-19 season (Getty Images)
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- Ravi Shastri had said that Kuldeep Yadav will be India’s first choice of foreign spinner in Tests in 2019
- But Kuldeep lost his form and place in the team after taking 5 wickets in the 2019 Sydney Test
- R Ashwin recently said that Shastri’s comments from more than two years ago had “absolutely crushed” him
Former India head coach Ravi Shastri on Thursday explained why he picked Kuldeep Yadav over Ravichandran Ashwin in the 2019 Sydney Test against Australia, adding that the chinaman deserved his chance as he was bowling well at the time.
Kuldeep was preferred over Ashwin and the left-arm spinner repaid the confidence of the team management with a five-wicket haul in Australia’s first innings, which saved the hosts from a humiliating defeat before rain and India’s dominance ended in a Test draw. done. first four days.
After Shastri publicly stated that Kuldeep would be the first-choice spinner in overseas Tests, Ashwin later expressed his disappointment at being dropped from the playing XI. He even said this week that Shastri’s comments “absolutely crushed” him at the time as he was already suffering from a drop in form.
But Shastri, who played 80 Tests and coached India for almost 5 years, has no regrets about what he said about Ashwin as he feels the Tamil Nadu off-spinner switched to red-ball cricket after that lapse. Improve your game.
Ashwin did not play the Test in Sydney and Kuldeep bowled well. So it is appropriate that I give Kuldeep a chance. If it has hurt Ashwin, then I am very happy. This inspired him to do something different. My job isn’t to butter everyone’s toast. My job is to tell facts without agenda.
“If your coach challenges you, what will you do? Go home crying and say I won’t be back. I will take it as a challenge, as a player, to prove the coach wrong.”
He said, ‘If Ashwin has been hurt by my statement on Kuldeep, then I am glad that I made this statement. It inspired him to do something different,” Shastri told The Indian Express.
Kuldeep surprisingly lost the mojo with the ball after the Sydney Test and was eventually ruled out of the Test squad, while Ashwin remains the leader of the spin attack and is expected to play a key role in the upcoming series in South Africa, which begins in December. Will start at 26. ,
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