India Vs England Lord’s Test Match: Does Virat Kohli deliberately avoiding Ravichandran Ashwin from playing test matches against England?

The skipper of the Indian Cricket Team Virat Kohli hasn’t said anything directly but he indirectly stated that there is no plan of replacing the injured bowler Shardul Thakur with Ravichandran Ashwin in the next test match at Lord’s against England.

It is evident from Virat’s words that he feels the Indian team’s priority is 4 pace bowlers and he thinks that 2 spinners would be a waste as rain is expected at the Lord’s too. He further added that Shardul Thakur was added to the team as an all-rounder. But, he bowled very well and ended with a duck in batting. Also, he cleared that Shardul was rested due to an injury in the left thigh.

Ishant Sharma or Umesh Yadav will likely replace the injured Shardul Thakur in today’s test match at the Lord’s. Previously, Ashwin had put up his best game against England in the Chennai match. He scored a century with bat and also done wonders with the ball. But Virat Kohli is a master at ignoring a player in his best league. 

Virat Kohli said, “Jadeja’s half-century and our tail-enders performance have proved to us that we don’t have to worry about the batting order. With me, Pujara and Rahane, Rohit and KL Rahul also seem to be in a good shape in batting. So, the batting unit is pretty solid and Shardul’s absence doesn’t make a big difference in the batting.

We have to pick 20 England wickets, so 4 pace bowlers are more important for the team now. 4 pace bowlers will put more pressure on the opposite team. While picking wickets, we also have to control conceding the runs. So, we will use the 4 bowlers equally and no one will be used less in this match. This is my game plan to pick wick wickets of the England team.”

Virat Kohli’s actions and words have ignited the question among the fans whether the skipper is deliberately avoiding Ravichandran Ashwin from playing against England.