Ravichandran Ashwin vs Ravindra Jadeja. Who should be in India’s playing XI? It has been a raging debate on social media since the first day of India’s tour of England as the Saurashtra spinner was favored over the Tamil Nadu cricketer when the team was picked for the series opener at Nottingham, Trent Bridge. Now former cricketer Farooq Engineer has given his opinion. Had he been the captain, it would have been Jadeja, not Ashwin, warming the bench.
“The thing is Ashwin was due to play at Lord’s, from what I’ve heard. I don’t know the insider knowledge of the team’s strategy. But it rained, it got cloudy. When the situation turns bad, the priority is given to the fast bowlers. So we took the right decisions,” the engineer said in an interview with Sports Tak.
“But at one point we must be thinking whether we should have played Ashwin. At Headingley we should play three fast bowlers and Ashwin. Because we will get more variety. Don’t forget, Ashwin is a very good all-rounder. He is a world class bowler but at the same time he is also a very good batsman. He scored a brilliant century in Australia. And he is a fighter. We need fighters like him in the team,” he said.
“But I will play Ashwin in the next Test, he is a bowler’s magician, a batsman’s fighter. Very good batsman. So, yes my vote will go to him.”
Ashwin recently said on his YouTube channel that he was told that he would be in the playing XI at Lord’s, but it did not happen as it rained in the England capital.
“The funny thing was, before the match, they were like, ‘There’s a heatwave. You please be ready mate. You can play.’ It started raining just after having breakfast in the morning. I asked, ‘Won’t you tell me about it after summer comes? Why give me only hope of ending in despair!’, said Ashwin.
get all IPL news and cricket score Here
.