Champions Trophy 2017: Ravichandran Ashwin returns to action after recovering from injury
What’s the story?
Team India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin returned to the nets ahead of the Champions Trophy, set to begin on June 1. The off-spinner bowled in the SRMC ground in Chennai as part of a practice game, and looked in good nick ahead of the ICC tournament.
In case you didn’t know…
Ashwin missed the entire IPL 2017 due to a sports hernia, an injury that he suffered during the Border-Gavaskar series against Australia in March. One of the stars of India’s home season, Ashwin decided to give the IPL a miss for his franchise, the Rising Pune Supergiant. Last year, he had had a lacklustre tournament for his franchise, picking up 10 wickets from 14 games in a season where his side finished seventh in the points table.
This season, he did not take part in a single game for the franchise, who have put up a much better showing and have reached their first IPL final.
The heart of the matter
Ashwin is part of the 15-man squad that will travel to England to defend the Champions Trophy, led by Virat Kohli. As reported by The Times of India, The practice game was part of a preliminary selection process of Tamil Nadu Premier League side Dindigul Dragons, who trimmed the candidates from a 300-strong group to just 22.
Ashwin was seen bowling a long spell, and giving some invaluable advice to the youngsters present at the venue. His last game was for India against the Australian team at Dharamsala, where he picked up four wickets.
What’s next?
Ashwin will travel with his teammates on May 24 to England to take part in the practice games ahead of the ICC tournament. India’s first game is against Pakistan on the 4th of June.
Author’s Take
Ashwin returning to action is a big boost to the Indian team, especially because the other spinner in the team, Ravindra Jadeja, hasn’t been in the best of form in this IPL. Ashwin’s white ball participation has been limited in the past one year, and he would be aiming to work on that in the lead-up to the Champions Trophy in England, the venue where four years ago, he bowled a miserly last over to hand the Indian side the title against the hosts.