Veteran wicketkeeper and commentator Dinesh Karthik reckons Ravichandran Ashwin has not had the best series against England in India. India and England are facing off in a five-match Test series and the fourth Test is currently going on at the Jharkhand State Cricket Association Stadium in Ranchi.
Ravichandran Ashwin who completed 500 wickets in the last Test is not having his best series with the ball as he has not been in the top three wicket-takers list in this series.
Ravichandran Ashwin has taken 12 wickets in the four Test matches at an average of 38.83 with the ball and an economy of 4.05. He has bowled 115 overs in the series as of now and has not taken a single four-fer which is a sign of worry for India as their main spinner is not able to grab the wickets in this series.
On the other hand, England spinner Tom Hartley who is playing his first Test series is currently leading the bowling charts with 18 wickets to his name in the series.
Dinesh Karthik said while speaking on CricBuzz that Ashwin has not had his best series in India while insisting that Kuldeep Yadav has been a positive for the hosts. He also said that Ravindra Jadeja has not been consistent in this series and has praised the inexperienced England spinners for bowling better in the ongoing Test. Dinesh Karthik also said that it is pretty uncommon that India goes four matches without an Ashwin four-fer or fifer in Test cricket.
“The inexperienced England spinners have definitely bowled better than Indian spinners in this Test. Speaking about each spinner, Kuldeep has been a positive for India, Jadeja has not been consistent but yes, R Ashwin has definitely not had his best series in India. It’s not often that you can go four Test matches in India without an Ashwin fifer or a four-fer,” said Dinesh Karthik.
Dinesh Karthik feels England spinners have done better than Indian spinners
Dinesh Karthik went further and said that English spinners have done better than Indian spinners in this five-match series.
England spinners have impressed everyone in this series and Tom Hartley has stepped up as the leading spinner in the absence of the experienced Jack Leach who was ruled out of the Test series after the first Test. Tom Hartley, who made his Test debut in Hyderabad, leads the wicket-taking charts with 18 wickets.
“Going from what has happened, you have to say that English spinners have done better than Indian spinners in this series. This is the first time they’re travelling to India. It’s like a completely inexperienced medium or fast-bowling attack going to Australia or England and doing better than their fast-bowlers,” Dinesh Karthik added.
Meanwhile, there will be a lot of expectations from Ravichandran Ashwin in the second innings at Ranchi. Joe Root led the charge for England in the first innings as he smashed a brilliant century playing the anchor’s role and built the innings well.
He scored an unbeaten 122 off 273 deliveries smashing 10 fours. England scored 353 in the first innings and in reply, India is struggling with 7 wickets down and still more than 100 runs to trail.
