Former England pacer Steve Harmison believes R Ashwin, after being named Player of the Series versus New Zealand, might not get an opportunity to participate in the Test series versus South Africa. Ashwin took 14 wickets at an impressive economy rate of 11.35 in 2 Tests against New Zealand. In addition, he took the most wickets for India in the 2-match Test series.
Furthermore, he contributed 70 runs with a high score of 38, demonstrating his ability to contribute with the bat. Furthermore, Harmison remarked that because it is difficult to predict Virat Kohli’s way of thinking, predicting Ashwin’s future in the series is tough.
The senior also believes that considering their awful record, Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara would be given an opportunity in the forthcoming Test series.
“The problem I find in predicting this Indian side is there’s logic and then there’s Kohli’s idea of what the team should be. Who on earth would have thought that R Ashwin would have missed so much cricket against England? You can never what Virat wants what he is trying or his thinking process is,” Harmison said in an Interaction.
I still think there is room for one more spinner: Harmison
“You would think the 2 young guys in Iyer and Agarwal would be going to South Africa on the back of scoring 100s in this series, it wouldn’t surprise me if Rahane and Pujara plays and wouldn’t surprise me if Ashwin doesn’t play,” he stated.
Harmison also proposed that India go into the series versus South Africa with Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. Furthermore, he believes Jadeja is more than capable with the bat.
“Jadeja is important for this team with Pant at No. 6 and 7. Even though Axar can bat and so can Ashwin. But Jadeja bats nicely at 7 and I still think there is room for one more spinner,” Harmison added.
The first game of India’s Test series versus South Africa will be played on Sunday, December 26 at SuperSport Park in Centurion. The 2nd and 3rd Tests will be held in Johannesburg and Cape Town. This will be followed by 3 One-Day Internationals (ODIs).
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