ENG vs IND: Ravichandran Ashwin reveals the reason behind his exclusion at Lord's

Ravichandran Ashwin has not been a part of the first two Test matches against England so far as Ravindra Jadeja was included as the lone spinner for the Nottingham Test, whereas at Lord’s, Ishant Sharma replaced injured Shardul Thakur and yet again there was no room for Ashwin. This surprised the cricketing fraternity as there were rounds of debate.

The off-spinner has now opened up on his inclusion in the playing XI and put an end to all questions swirling in the wind. In his YouTube show, ‘Kutti Story’, with fielding coach R Sridhar, Ashwin asserted that he was likely to play in the Lord’s Test. The weather seemed warm and the conditions also appeared to be a bit drier ahead of the start of the game. However after it rained in the morning, the Indian team had to again go with their ploy of playing four pacers.

“The funny thing was, before the match, they were like, ‘There’s a heatwave. You please be ready mate. You might play.’ Upon coming to breakfast in the morning, rains started lashing out. I asked, ‘Won’t you tell about heatwave after it came? Why gave me hope only for it to end in disappointment!’,” Ashwin said.

Ravichandran Ashwin has been an important asset for the team in red-ball cricket

Ashwin is currently the number 2 ranked ICC Test bowler and has been in the form of his life over the past few months. He was impressive Down Under and then continued the momentum further in the home series as well. He picked up 32 wickets and smashed a belligerent century on a challenging batting track in Chennai against England. In the World Test Championship as well, the spinner provided important breakthroughs for the team and thus was expected to be featured in the playing XI against England.

About the Test series, rain played spoilsport as the first Test resulted in a draw. India, however, registered a thrilling victory over England in the second Test match and took a 1-0 lead in the five-match Test series. The teams now would be raring for the third Test match at Headingly starting August 25.