Indian spin greats stunned by Jadeja, Ashwin's ouster from ODI squad

Much to the disappointment of the Indian cricket fans, the national selectors for a third time dropped Ravi Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja from the squad in their bid to give the younger crop of spinners a chance in the upcoming ODI series against New Zealand. The decision comes as a surprise as Jadeja hammered a classy 150 against Jammu and Kashmir in a Ranji Trophy match prior to the decision. Ashwin too was impressive in the domestic campaign but met with a similar fate as India’s top-ranked spinners were once again left out.

Veteran Indian spinner Erapalli Prasanna, however, believes that there is something more to the ‘rest’ theory which is doing the rounds in the Indian cricketing circles. Even Dilip Doshi, another former spin exponent, couldn’t see a reason behind the spin duo’s ouster from the ODI side ahead of the upcoming series against the Kiwis.

Reacting to Ashwin’s ouster, the Prasanna said, “There is something definitely wrong somewhere. I first started smelling the rotten stuff when Ashwin was allowed to play for the county in England (ahead of Australia series),”

Jadeja, Ashwin slowly falling off the radar

National selector MSK Prasad had initially stated that the senior bowlers would be rested during the limited-overs series against Sri Lanka, but bypassing them for the Australia and now New Zealand leg is a clear indication that they are slowly falling off the radar as far as limited-overs cricket is concerned.

Teams like Australia and New Zealand have been proved vulnerable against wrist spinners. Team India has already started with their preparation for the 2019 World Cup in right earnest. And now with Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, and Yuzvendra Chahal having done fairly well in the past three series, it will be difficult to bring back both Ashwin and Jadeja for New Zealand one-dayers.