IND vs NZ: Aakash Chopra questions Rohit Sharma’s decision to not use Ravichandran Ashwin enough on Day 5 (Twitter)
Despite there being only 107 runs to defend in the final innings of the first Test against New Zealand in Bengaluru, Indian bowlers gave their everything, particularly Jasprit Bumrah, who picked up two wickets early on. He bowled a long spell alongside Mohammed Siraj and after which, Ravichandran Ashwin was expected to come to attack but interestingly, captain Rohit Sharma backed the duo Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav.
Notably, Ashwin proved extremely expensive in the first innings and was the least effective spinner in the first innings, which could be the reason behind Rohit preferring Jadeja and Kuldeep over him. However, according to former cricketer Aakash Chopra, that was a wrong decision, as the off-spinner is the most successful bowler in the squad and has a tremendous record against left-handed batters.
“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,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
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“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,” Chopra added.
It would have been better if you hadn’t bowled Ashwin: Chopra
Chopra further explained that by the time Rohit brought Ashwin into the attack, the game had already slipped away from India’s hands. He added that the hosts missed a trick and it’s beyond him to understand the reason behind India not using Ashwin enough in the second innings.
“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,” he added.