IND vs ENG 2021: Wasim Jaffer throws 'rough' hint of who India might miss on Day 5 at Lord's
Former India opener Wasim Jaffer shared a picture of a delivery from Day 4 of the Lord’s Test, indicating that the visitors might miss Ravichandran Ashwin in the second innings. In the picture, a puff of dust is clearly seen after the ball pitches.
England off-spinner Moeen Ali got the ball to turn rather sharply in the second session of the day’s play. While a few balls zipped past Ajinkya Rahane’s bat after pitching, a few kept low as well.
Sharing a picture of a delivery on social media, in which the rough outside the off-stump is visible, Jaffer hinted that India might miss Ravichandran Ashwin on Day 5 of the Lord’s Test. Along with the image, Jaffer shared an interesting caption. He wrote:
“Let me tell you a kutti story.. The main character is missing.. #ENGvIND.”
After conceding a 27-run lead on Day 3, India found themselves in trouble on Sunday. They lost KL Rahul (5), Rohit Sharma (21) and Virat Kohli (20) in the first session itself, and headed to lunch at a precarious 56 for 3. Cheteshwar Pujara (29 not out) and Ajinkya Rahane (24 not out) batted out the second session to keep India afloat.
Mixed reactions to Ravichandran Ashwin’s absence from Lord’s Test
There have been contrasting views on whether India could end up ruing the decision to leave out Ravichandran Ashwin from the Lord’s Test. Spinners traditionally get a lot of purchase from the surface on the last two days.
According to former Pakistan captain Salman Butt, decisions always seem wiser in hindsight. Pointing out that no one will ask questions if India win the Test, he said on his YouTube channel:
“When plans don’t work out, people always feel that the person sitting outside should have been in and vice-versa. These are afterthoughts, when the results of the decision start coming in. But when India picked four fast bowlers, their aim was to bowl first.”
However, former Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria termed India’s decision to leave out Ravichandran Ashwin as a mistake. Sharing his views on his YouTube channel, Kaneria said:
"I’ve been saying this from day 1 that Ravichandran Ashwin needs to play at Lord’s. He has variations, can bowl from different angles. He has the carrom balls, and the way the pitch is turning out to be – we saw this with Moeen Ali, we saw that with Ravindra Jadeja."
Kaneria added:
"Ashwin has good height, gets good bounce, and the slope would have helped him even further. Ravindra Jadeja can contain runs, but Ashwin has bowled well and picked wickets on all kinds of surfaces. Not including Ashwin, I feel, is a mistake by India. I hope that after this Test match, India don’t regret not playing Ashwin.”
Ravindra Jadeja, who has played ahead of Ravichandran Ashwin in both Tests, is yet to take a wicket in the series. He ended with figures of 0 for 43 from 22 overs in the first innings at Lord’s.