Ravichandran Ashwin vs Shardul Thakur - who should India play for their 2nd match of 2023 World Cup
India go up against Afghanistan in their second match of the 2023 Men's ODI World Cup on Wednesday, October 11, at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.
The match against Afghanistan comes after a morale-boosting six-wicket win over Australia head-lined by a brilliant spin-bowling effort and a special partnership between the in-form Virat Kohli and India's crisis man KL Rahul.
India will certainly fancy their chances against Afghanistan, who succumbed to a tame six-wicket defeat at the hands of Bangladesh in their opener.
In terms of team news, Ishan Kishan is set to continue at the top of the order as Shubman Gill recovers from his illness. A possible point of debate will be Ravichandran Ashwin's spot in the playing XI for this match, with the wicket offering little support to spinners in the South Africa vs Sri Lanka match.
With Shardul Thakur his likely replacement, India may have a hard decision on their hands in choosing between the two players.
Let's dive deep and look at which of the two players India should play for their second match of the World Cup.
The conditions at the Arun Jaitley Stadium
A venue that generally is slow and sluggish and aids spinners, finger spinners, in particular, was cruel to them in the South Africa-Sri Lanka clash a few days back.
While that was also a result of batters from both teams taking the initiative and attacking every bowler, there was indeed very little turn or sluggishness in the wicket and the ball simply sat up nicely for the batters.
In those kinds of conditions, it is hard for spinners to deliver, so based purely on conditions, someone like Shardul Thakur may have an edge over Ashwin in wicket-taking.
However, we also have to consider the question of control. Ashwin can bowl economically at pretty much every venue even if he doesn't pick up wickets. He's coming off a really good spell against Australia and you'd expect him to keep things tight regardless of the conditions.
As for Shardul, he will deliver you the breakthroughs, but on a wicket like this with not much assistance for the bowlers, he will also be Afghanistan's bowler to target and should concede runs with the ball. Since India already have many top-quality bowlers in Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, and Mohammed Siraj, do they need a strike bowler like Shardul while taking the risk of conceding some extra runs?
Team Balance
Commentators and experts have labeled Shardul Thakur as India's third seamer whenever they talk about his selection in the team, but in reality, he's more their fourth pacer as Hardik Pandya is backed to bowl more overs than Shardul when he's fit.
So, India actually have a three-pace, three-spin bowling line-up when they play Ashwin over Shardul, and that's the ideal combination to have when you're playing in India. It's a puzzle why they took so long to figure that out, but Ashwin getting back to the team and performing well is a really positive sign for India's chances at the World Cup.
Also, there's very little to separate the two as batters, with Ashwin arguably the better batter, given his pedigree in Test cricket.
Final Verdict
Based on the conditions, Shardul Thakur does edge Ashwin out slightly as the option to go for despite his propensity to be expensive on occasion. However, with Ashwin returning to the team and in good rhythm, India may want to let him build on that momentum.
Playing Ashwin gives India much better balance for them to recover even if they've misread the wicket, and if the ball starts stopping on its way to the batters.
While the final decision from the team management should come down to the pitch that is being used, Ashwin does have an edge over Shardul when it comes to making the playing XI for India's World Cup game against Afghanistan.
Final Verdict: India to play Ravichandran Ashwin in their second match of the World Cup against Afghanistan.