Just digest this statistics. 79 tests, 413 wickets at 24.56 per wicket. This is Ashwin’s record in test cricket. He will be an automatic selection in any team under any condition. Ashwin’s record speaks for him. The numbers are so impressive that it is impossible to see him not playing a test unless he is injured. Yet, he sat out of all the 4 tests against England. He did not fit into the template envisaged by the captain Virat Kohli. I will try to analyse the reasons behind not picking Ashwin in the Ashwin saga: was Kohli wrong?
What is Kohli’s template?
Ever since the day Kohli became the captain of the Indian cricket team, he has brought in a culture or mentality of winning. Winning against odds that are stacked against the team. Far too long, India under Dhoni were caught in the web of process. There never seemed to be an end to the process. The result was, India were annihilated outside the subcontinent. More precisely, in England, New Zealand and Australia. Kohli was very much part of those teams and must have felt that a change is required. He was well aware that he was the captain in waiting and he must have had his own plans. Plans that he put into motion as soon as he became the captain.
Out went the 6-1-4 combination that Dhoni so loves and in came the 5 bowlers strategy. Credit must be given where it is due. Kohli did not flinch if the wicket had pace and bounce or turn. He stuck to his theory. He valued winning more than any other Indian captain before him with the possible of exception of Ganguly. 5 bowlers gave him the best chance of picking up 20 wickets and he has stuck to that till date. More recently, in England.
That is the topic for this blog. Ashwin did not play a single test during the series. At the end of the first test, Kohli said,
“Most likely this will be our template in this series, but adaptability has been our strength. The conditions and the pace on the wicket needs to be seen, but this team will be our template. England and India have always been a blockbuster, and looking forward to the next Test.”
Kohli was always clear on what he wanted
Kohli was clear right at the outset. He needed 5 bowlers and mostly fast bowlers. He learned his lesson during the WTC finals where both Jadeja and Ashwin were preferred when the overcast conditions dictated 4 fast bowlers and lengthen the batting. Now, this is fair enough. Every Indian fan wanted the team to win, especially in countries like England, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa and if the batting needs to be shortened to achieve that, so be it. Kohli even went to the extreme of picking 4 absolute mugs with the bat in Ishant, Bumrah, Shami & Siraj for the Lords and Headingley games. In the absence of Shardul, if only Kumar or Hardik were available, he still didn’t want to turn to a batter to fill the void of Shardul.
Such was the belief of Kohli in a 5 men bowling attack
However, a closer look will reveal a completely different story altogether. Kohli wanted 5 bowlers but if you look closer, he did not pick Jadeja as an allrounder or a bowler. He picked him as a batter. A batter good enough to be in the top 6. It is a different story that he slotted him after Pant but nevertheless, Jadeja played the games as a batter who if required, can also bowl. He was always as an afterthought for Kohli. He was brought into the attack when the other bowlers needed a bit of rest and to keep things quiet until they return. Kohli never used Jadeja throughout the series as a striker bowler. Even at The Oval, Jadeja was asked to bowl into the rough to help reverse swing.
All these takes me back to the main question. Was Kohli wrong to drop Ashwin? What I can see from the outside is that Kohli wanted a 6th batter who can bowl but only to give the quicks some much needed rest and who is capable of handling the 6th batter’s position. Jadeja’s record as a batter over the last 4 years has been incredible. He averaged over 45 with the bat. A lot of his runs came in the SENA countries denoting that he has come a long way as a batter.
During the same stage, Ashwin’s batting digressed substantially that he almost forgot to bat until he reinvented himself at Sydney in 2020. For Kohli however, it was Jadeja who offered a solid batting option in the lower middle order who could stay patient when the bowlers are at the top and who could take them apart when it is required.
Conclusion
I don’t think Kohli was wrong in dropping Ashwin because there simply wasn’t any room for Ashwin whose batting is less solid than Jadeja’s at the moment. There is another school of thought that Ashwin could have replaced Rahane. Afterall, he would not have fared any poorer than Rahane but that is for another day.
Other topics about Ashwin