The Indian veteran spinner, Ravichandran Ashwin proved his worth in the Indian team by picking his 27th five-wicket haul on Day 3 of the first Test against South Africa. It was his charismatic bowling that helped India get back in the game which was, at one stage, slipping away when South African opener Dean Elgar and wicket-keeper Quinton de Kock were batting together as both scored the centuries.
Legendary Indian batsman, Sunil Gavaskar, who has been quite vocal about his opinion about Ashwin’s contribution to the team, criticized the Indian team management for persisting with Ashwin on foreign soils. In fact, this time Gavaskar went on to say that “Ashwin should be a certainty” for India in Test cricket.
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Gavaskar said, “Ashwin should be a certainty. The fact that he has not been made to feel the comfort level is the reason why we are seeing him struggle a little bit. I think there is more to it than just cricketing performances which is the reason he just finds himself sidelined more often than somebody with his record should be. Somebody who has got almost 350 wickets can’t be sidelined as regularly as he has been.”
Referring to Ashwin’s exclusion from the playing XI against the West Indies, Gavaskar said, “He has also got to feel he has got the confidence of the people around him. When you don’t have the confidence of people around you, when you keep getting sidelined then you try a little too hard”.
The way Ashwin repaid his skipper’s faith by picking wickets at crucial junctures of the match. Gavaskar also opined that comparing Ashwin to spinners from other countries whenever he plays outside India is not fair. The latter had picked two wickets of opener Aiden Markram and Theunis de Bruyn on Day 2 of the match and added three more wickets to his tally on Friday to complete his fifer.
On Day 3, Ashwin got rid of South African skipper Faf du Plessis (55), wicket-keeper Quinton de Kock (111) and fast bowler Vernon Philander (0). Playing his first international match in a while, Ashwin helped India break the South African resistance and finish day’s play in commanding position.
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At stumps on Day 3, riding on the centuries from Elgar and de Kock South Africa reached 385/8 and are trailing India by just 117 runs.
