Ashwin cannot be let to fade away, says Ganguly
In the face of shouts from all around for Kuldeep Yadav to be included in the playing XI for the first Test match against England, even if it is at the expense of India's long-term premier spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, former captain Sourav Ganguly has come out in the support of the off-spinner and has called for reverence to be shown to a player who has excelled in the whites for India consistently since his debut.
Speaking to Cricbuzz, Ganguly said, "Ashwin has a place in the side. He will reinvent himself because he feels challenged, he knows Kuldeep is up for his Test spot. You saw the leg spin in the IPL, he will get better and he deserves a lot more opportunities."
He further made his point by referring to his excellent statistical record and emphasized that it must be respected as a testimonial of his craft, "You can't let Ashwin fade away so quickly, because 300 wickets is not a matter of joke."
While going with Kuldeep and in the process edging out one of the two mainstays of either Ashwin or Ravindra Jadeja seems like a tempting option at this point of time, when the chinaman's variations has left the English batsmen recently bamboozled in the limited-overs contest, whether he can trouble the stubborn likes of Alastair Cook in a five-day contest remains a question.
Wrist-spinners are the rage throughout the world at the moment, but none of them are nearly as effective with the red ball. For most of the Test sides, finger spinners seem to be dominating, the likes of Nathan Lyon and Steve O'Keefe for Australia, Dilruwan Perera for Sri Lanka, Mitch Santner for New Zealand and now Keshav Maharaj for South Africa.
In a five-match Test series, it will not be the variations that will do the trick, but persistence and the ability to keep on pitching the ball on the same patch outside the off-stump for overs on end on a supposedly last day wearing track. And despite the X-factor brought in by the wrist-spinner, it is the accuracy that takes a beating with all of their kind infamous for bowling the odd loose ball.