ODI World Cup: Ashwin or Shardul – India’s No. 8 query hots up throughout first observe session in Guwahati

Till final week, aficionados and connoisseurs alike, have been busy discussing whether or not Axar Patel was higher suited to be India’s No. 8 within the forthcoming Men’s Cricket World Cup or would Shardul Thakur be extra helpful in the identical function.

The personnel could have modified however the debate rages on. From the Indian administration perspective, nevertheless, the choice is easy. Or so it regarded throughout India’s first official nets session, albeit non-compulsory, for the World Cup.

Considering the journey and workload that the workforce has been via during the last month and mendacity forward for the following two, it wasn’t stunning that solely 4 gamers joined the assist workers entourage for a observe session on the Amingaon Cricket Ground, on the outskirts of town.

What was by no means stunning was Ravichandran Ashwin and Shardul Thakur being amongst them. The duo had an intensive batting and bowling exercise underneath a scorching solar on Friday afternoon, forward of India’s warm-up tie in opposition to England on Saturday.

After the warm-up drills, Shardul headed to the centre of the bottom, bowling to Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan for a very long time. Ashwin, in the meantime, walked to the nets behind the pavilion and batted for properly over 45 minutes.

Not solely did Ashwin observe sweep pictures incessantly on Friday, however even tried out reverse-sweep, connecting the shot most of the time
| Photo Credit:
RITU RAJ KONWAR

Batting in opposition to spin, not solely did Ashwin observe sweep pictures incessantly however even tried out reverse-sweep, connecting the shot most of the time. Later on, with Shardul having taken a break, Ashwin walked onto the centre pitch, dealing with India’s throwdown specialist trio for a second stint.

Both Ashwin and Shardul batted in tandem for some time. Even after Shardul was carried out along with his stint, Ashwin modified his gears and bowled for half an hour underneath the watchful eyes of bowling coach Paras Mhambrey.

The coaching session was a transparent giveaway that Shardul and Ashwin will stick with it the Indian workforce administration’s quest for locating the appropriate steadiness, no matter the situations and the opposition. In all chance, one of many two will function at No. 8 in India’s batting order.

In truth, bringing Ashwin into the scheme of issues could have been a well-planned transfer by the administration. The damage to Axar could have resulted in making Ashwin’s inclusion smoother. Captain Rohit Sharma had said simply after the Asia Cup ultimate that he was in fixed contact with the veteran offie.

Ashwin could have hardly performed any ODIs ever because the 2017 Champions Trophy, when the Virat Kohli-Ravi Shastri mix determined to undertake the wrist-spin mantra. But his inclusion could make choice issues much more attention-grabbing.

With Axar, he was all the time going to be a backup spin choice to Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja. But Ashwin, the offspinner, could be as potent as another spinner on the earth. As a consequence, selecting two between Kuldeep, Jadeja and Ashwin will likely be far more difficult for the administration.

Can the Ashwin experiment work? Or will Shardul proceed to be India’s major No. 8? We will realize it in Chennai in little over every week from now.