"One 5-for In 10 Years": R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja Sent Blunt Message As India Ponder 2nd Test XI

He is a bonafide legend with 536 Test wickets but imminent future isn't looking bright for Ravichandran Ashwin, who might not get to roll his arm in the current Border-Gavaskar Trophy unless any of the remaining four tracks warrants two spinners. If the tracks on offer continue to assist seam and bounce like in Perth, the 38-year-old may find it very difficult to make it to the playing eleven unless team management's first choice Washington Sundar bowls badly. But even in that case, Ravindra Jadeja, with superior batting credentials in SENA countries, is expected to get the nod ahead of the Chennai tweaker.

While the variables of selections are entirely different when one plays in Australia or England, Ashwin's latest form had a lot to do with how the current team management of Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma is thinking, feels former selector Devang Gandhi.

"I do feel that current form has been taken into consideration. The Indian team management wanted to go in with a team that had confidence and not exactly looking at the past records," Gandhi, who was the selector from 2016-17 to 2020-21 told PTI trying to decode the current situation.

"Washy bowled well against New Zealand and is a reliable lower middle-order batter. So it does make sense." 

The template has been set in Perth and even in Pink Ball Test, it is unlikely to change as far as bowling combination is concerned.

Former off-spinner Harbhajan Singh termed the choice of Washington Sundar over R Ashwin and Jadeja as a massive step. "Washington had showed during the New Zealand series that he is ready to take over the mantle from Ashwin in coming days," said the former spinner said.

Interestingly, Ashwin's best figures in Australia and all SENA countries came