Ravi Shastri clears the air on Ravichandran Ashwin's fitness

Ravi Shastri clears the air on Ravichandran Ashwin’s fitness: The clouds whether Ravichandran Ashwin will play the first Test against South Africa in Mohali or not was cleared by Indian Team Director Ravi Shastri.

Shastri in press conference  has  indicated that Ravichandran Ashwin will play in the first cricket Test against South Africa, saying the off-spinner is “absolutely fine”.

Ashwin, who suffered a side strain during the first ODI in Kanpur, could not play in the last four games against the visitors. His absence hurt the hosts as they went down 2-3 against the AB de Villiers-led side in the ODi series.

“Ashwin is bowling magnificently. He is absolutely fine, said Shastri. Ashwin was seen going through his practice drills in full vigour during the teams training session at the PCA stadium .

Apart from bowling in tandem with other spinners, the 29-year-old player was also involved in a football game that the cricketers played before moving to the net session.

Ashwin, who led the bowling charts by bagging 20 wickets in three games against Sri Lanka during the last Test series, is India’s “go to man” against a confident South African batting line-up, led by skipper Hashim Amla.

Kohli’s confidence must have been sky high on Monday when he saw Ashwin bowl for nearly an hour under the watchful eyes of team physio Patrick Farhart and strength and conditioning coach Shankar Basu. Ashwin made a surprise visit to the stadium and was seen running, bending and throwing balls to the physio.