Picture Credit: Twitter
While there is little doubt over Ravichandran's Ashwin status as one of the modern-day greats, for some reason he has not been able to find a place in India's XI in any of the four-Test matches of the ongoing England tour. Although the strategy of going ahead seemed to be working well for Virat Kohli & Co in the first two Tests, after their innings and 76-run defeat in the third Test, it was expected that Ashwin, the number 2 ranked bowler in the world, will get a game in the fourth Test match at The Oval.
However, Kohli announced just a couple of changes to the side at the toss on Thursday. While he mentioned that Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma were missing the Test match due to niggles, he announced Shardul Thakur and Umesh Yadav as their replacements. When asked the reasoning behind still opting not to go ahead with Ashwin, a veteran of over 400 Test wickets, skipper Kohli said that the presence of four left-handers in the England team and the fact that India's pacers usually bowl over the wicket creates a rough patch perfect for left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja to exploit.
However, his explanation did not go down well with several cricketing experts and pundits. And now Ashwin's wife, Prithi Narayanan has also taken a dig at the team management. Taking to Twitter, Prithi simply shared a video of their daughter looking out for her dad through a telescope.
"Looking for @ashwinravi99," she captioned the video.
Check out the video here:
Earlier, former England captain Michael Vaughan termed the non-selection of off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin in India's line-up as "madness".
"The non selection of @ashwinravi99 has to be greatest NON selection we have ever witnessed across 4 Tests in the UK !!! 413 Test wickets & 5 Test 100s !!!! #ENGvIND Madness," tweeted Vaughan.
Among other criticism of Ashwin's non-selection, one that stood out was that of Member of Parliament and cricket fan Shashi Tharoor's.
"I can't believe they left out Ashwin again, on England's most spin-friendly ground. This team is unbelievable. You pick your five best bowlers, @ashwinravi99 has to be the first or second name. Omitting him & @MdShami11 at the Oval is like a death-wish -- as if you want to lose!" he wrote on social media.