Ravi Ashwin is worrying me now: Sourav Ganguly on spinner's recent injury woes

India are playing the last Test of the year without their spin spearhead Ravi Ashwin. The world number one Test side are taking on Australia in Melbourne in a game that will potentially decide the outcome of the series. And just like the rest of 2018, they are missing Ashwin for yet another big game.

The off-spinner sustained the injury on the fourth evening of the Adelaide Test, aggravated it on the fifth, and consequently missed the Perth Test. India paid a big price for Ashwin’s absence as Nathan Lyon’s 8-wicket haul showed that the pitch had enough for the spinners.

This is the fourth Test Ashwin is missing out of the 11 overseas Tests India have played this year.  He was left out of the Johannesburg Test as India wanted to play with four pacers. The Tamil Nadu star then played the Southampton Test without being fully fit and missed the following game at The Oval with a groin strain.

Given Ashwin’s performance in Adelaide, India are definitely going to miss him. India’s most experienced bowler proved his worth by running through Australia’s top-order in the first innings.  He sent back Marcus Harris, Usman Khawaja and Shaun Marsh in quick time to leave Australia reeling at 87 for 4.  Even in the second innings, Ravi Ashwin dismissed Aaron Finch and Khawaja to put India in the driver’s seat. He went on to take the last Australian wicket to guide India to a deserving win.

Ganguly concerned:

Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly is concerned about Ashwin’s role and effectiveness after his recent spate of injuries. The legendary skipper believes Ashwin needs to be careful with his fitness before saying that the spinner cannot afford to pick up injuries during an important away series.

“Ravichandran Ashwin is worrying me now. He can’t be the premier spinner and get injured so many times on big tours: England, South Africa, and now Australia. The team needs him against left-handers but it looks like he will be sitting out now. He is not doing his reputation any good,” Ganguly wrote in his column for The Times of India (TOI).

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