Picture Credit: Twitter/@BCCI
The latest news from the Indian men's cricket team camp in Manchester is that all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has been ruled out of the fifth and final Test match against England at Old Trafford. The match is slated to commence later on Friday and it is being reported that veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is all set to replace Jadeja in the XI. Notably, Ashwin hasn't played a single Test match in the series. India is currently sitting on top, leading the series 2-1.
Meanwhile, it is expected that Mohammed Shami, who was rested for the fourth Test match, will be replacing Jasprit Bumrah who could be rested ahead of a long IPL and T20 World Cup season. While there was COVID-19 fear related to the match with several support staff members testing positive for the infection, the players have all returned negative tests and the match seemingly is going on as scheduled.
Ashwin's non-selection as the greatest non-selection ever witnessed across four test matches in the United Kingdom: Vaughan
Earlier when India captain Virat Kohli was asked about still not picking Ashwin in the fourth Test at Oval when he came for the toss, he had said that with their pacers bowling over the wicket, it suits Ravindra Jadeja bowling to the left-handers in the English team.
His reasoning hadn't gone down too well with several cricket experts and pundits. Former England captain Michael Vaughan had even termed Ashwin's non-selection as the greatest non-selection ever witnessed across four test matches in the United Kingdom. To drive home his point, Vaughan even highlighted Ashwin's records.
"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 …," he wrote.
Ashwin's wife, Prithi Narayanan had 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.
Ashwin was recently also named in India's T20 World Cup squad set to be staged in UAE and Oman. While the 34-year-old hadn't played a white-ball game in 2017, his consistent performances in IPL has helped him earn a call up to the national team for the marquee event.