India lost the first ODI against Australia in Perth on Sunday by seven wickets. It was a stop-start game in wet conditions in Western Australia and India after losing three early wickets couldn’t recover from early blows and ended up scoring just 136/9 in their allocated 26 overs.
Former India off-spinner R Ashwin was left puzzled with the Men in Blue’s selection for the first ODI against Australia in Perth. India chose to go in with three fast bowlers and as many all-rounders, including two spinners in Axar Patel and Washington Sundar, while Nitish Kumar Reddy made his ODI debut at the very ground where he played his first Test for India last year. However, with Axar and Nitish Reddy already in the side in addition to the five batters, Ashwin couldn’t get his head around the decision of leaving Kuldeep Yadav, the wicket-taker.
โI can understand why there are two spinners playing in the team, along with Nitish Reddy. They want that batting depth, because Axar and Washington can bat, but bowling ke upar bhi thoda dhayan dedo yaar (please give a little importance to the bowling as well),” Ashwin said in his review of the series opener on his YouTube channel. Ashwin reckoned that on big grounds in Australia, Kuldeep, the attacking spinner, would be a handy option in India’s bowling arsenal.
“In these big grounds, if Kuldeep canโt bowl with a lot of freedom, then where will he play? And there will be overspin, which will get him more bounce,” Ashwin added. To lengthen the batting, India had Harshit Rana, who is being picked consistently to play that No.8 role; however, the playing XI meant that the tall Delhi pacer was slotted in at No 9.
“See, I understand that they will talk about this batting depth, but if that is going to help you win games, then batters should be able to take the responsibility. If they are playing extra batters, then they are again shielding the batting line-up. I will always say, play your best bowlers. Donโt pick a player only because you want to extend your batting. Kitne all-rounders chaiye aapko (How many all-rounders do you want)? You already have three. Even after having Nitish in the side, if you canโt play your best bowlers, then I canโt get it at all,” he further added.
It was a stop-start game in wet conditions in Western Australia on Sunday and India, after losing three early wickets, couldn’t recover from early blows and ended up scoring just 136/9 in their allocated 26 overs. Australia knocked off 131 runs without much discomfort and it will be interesting to see how the Indian team comes back in the second game in Adelaide.
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