Ravichandran Ashwin didn't bowl in the nets at Kennington Oval

Indian off-break bowler Ravichandran Ashwin’s campaign in the ongoing Test series against England got off to an impressive start. Albeit his team couldn’t win at Edgbaston in Birmingham, the tweaker finished with seven wickets in the encounter. However, he somehow hasn’t been to translate his form in the matches thereafter at Lord’s, Trent Bridge and The Ageas Bowl respectively.

In the second match at The Home of Cricket, the 31-year-old went wicketless. To add to his agony, he injured his hip and couldn’t bowl for the chunk of the match at Nottingham and ended with only the wicket of James Anderson in the second innings to help India win the Test by 203 runs. Thereafter, concerns were raised over his participation in the previous match at The Ageas Oval.

Will Ashwin play at Kennington Oval?

The pitch in Southampton was inspected to be dry underneath and provided substantial turn for the spinners. However, he couldn’t make optimum utilisation of the favourable conditions. The fifth and final Test is scheduled to be played at Kennington Oval from September 7 and the Indian team must be trying their hearts out to get themselves prepared for one last time in the series.

In the meantime, it has been learned that the Tamil Nadu-born cricketer didn’t bowl in the nets during India’s practice session on Wednesday at the Oval in London as per reports in The Hindu. This further raise doubts about whether he would be a part of the playing eleven in the upcoming Test match or not. Previously, Ravi Shastri, India’s head coach mentioned that he was fit in Southampton.

When asked about the reasons behind Moeen Ali’s superior performance over Ashwin, Shastri mentioned that the English bowler managed to hit the rough patches more often than Ashwin and hence, turned out to be more successful. Yesterday, he had a few laps around the ground and had a long discussion with Bharat Arun, India’s bowling coach.

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