India vs New Zealand: Rishabh Pant with Rohit Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin© AFP
The Indian cricket team, known for its dominance at home, was given a reality heck by New Zealand in the first Test in Bengaluru. The Rohit Sharma-led side was dismissed for just 46 in the first innings before New Zealand scored 402 in reply. Led by Sarfaraz Khan and Rishabh Pant’s brave innings, India surpassed the total but a lower order collapse saw them setting a target of just 107 runs for New Zealand. Even then, Ravichandran Ashwin, the highest wicket-taker among all active cricketers, was introduced late in the attack.
Former India opener Aakash Chopra was surprised by the decision.
“No doubt the runs were less but we didn’t get Ashwin to bowl at all. I am not saying we would have won the match if Ashwin had bowled but we didn’t get him to bowl. That was surprising and how,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
“Why was Ashwin not bowled? I don’t have an answer for that because if you see his numbers, he is your team’s best bowler. No one has taken more wickets than him in Test matches. Left-handers were playing but you still Didn’t get him to bowl. It was not understandable at all.”
He added that using Ashwin as the fifth bowling option was baffling.
“You still understand Bumrah’s long spell because only two wickets fell and he took both. However, Mohammed Siraj from the other end. Although he was bowling well with the new ball, when you stopped him, you could have got either Jaddu (Ravindra Jadeja ) or Ashwin first, that’s fine, but you used Ashwin as the fifth option,” Chopra said.
“The match was over. There was no life left in the match. 15 or 20 runs were left and you called him to bowl. It would have been better if you hadn’t bowled him at all. This question should have been asked in the post-match press conference – ‘Rohit bhai, what did you do?’ I thought India definitely missed a trick and it is beyond my understanding why he wasn’t bowled.”
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