Ravindra Jadeja ends 2017 in a better position than Ravi Ashwin

Indian spin duo of Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin had a pretty successful year dominating their opponents while bowling in favourable conditions at home. The twin ended 2017 at the third and fourth position respectively in the ICC Test bowlers rankings.

The leaderboard is topped by England fast bowler James Anderson, followed by South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada at the second spot. Now with the new year starting and the South Africa series just around the corner, both Ashwin and Jadeja have a fresh whole year ahead to better their performances.

India will play full-fledged series comprising three Tests, six ODIs, and three T20Is against the Proteas. The tour will commence on January 5 with the first Test in Cape Town. The Test team, announced by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), has all the usual names with Jasprit Bumrah making his debut appearance in the squad.

However, what caught the eyes, was the ODI team. For the limited-overs leg, the board decided to stick with wrist spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav instead of experienced duo of Ashwin and Jadeja, who were last seen in the national ODI dress back on the tour of West Indies in 2017 just after ICC Champions Trophy in England.

The young spinners have shown good potential

After touring West Indies, Virat Kohli‘s men played four limited-overs series – against Sri Lanka away, against Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka at home, in that order, where both Ashwin and Jadeja did not feature. In Tests, the story is entirely different as both the bowlers have been among top 10 Test bowlers in the ICC ranking for quite some time now.

Jadeja also ended the year with the highest rating points, he has 899 points to his name and he held the apex position for 187 days.

Young Indian spinners, Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal have shown enough potential in recent times coupled with the fact that not many batsmen in this age pick wrist spin and thus they have better wicket-taking opportunities.