Ashwin not India's No 1 overseas spinner: Netizens, ex-cricketer unhappy with veteran's flop show

Team India missed a golden opportunity to end their losing Test series streak in South Africa after being defeated in the third and final match at Newlands Cape Town on Friday to let underdogs and lessexperienced Proteas bag the contest 21There were several reasons for Virat Kohli amp Co failing in the Rainbow Nation Veteran offie Ravichandran Ashwin was one of the biggest disappointments along with Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar PujaraThere have always been talks about Ashwins belowpar overseas performances Even in the recentlyconcluded Test series he managed just three wickets in the 641 overs he bowled in the three matches against the Proteas Two of these scalps were the last couple of wickets to seal the Indian win in the Boxing Day TestThe 35yearolds substandard display has invited criticism from all corners Recently cricketerturnedcommentator Aakash Chopra picked his inability to take wickets as one of the reasons for Indias defeat in the Test seriesI was slightly disappointed I had a lot of expectations from him Ashwin that he will do something that he will contribute a little more whether it was the Johannesburg or Cape Town pitch Of course they were not going to be rank turners but there was no contribution with the ball at all Chopra had saidMeanwhile netizens also slammed the Tamil Nadu spinnerWhat the result of this series also establishessuggestsreiterates is that Ashwin is not Indias No1 overseas spinner Ravindra Jadeja is INDvsSA SAvIND Ashwin wrote one on TwitterAnother said Ashwin wonder spinner has taken only 87 wkts overseas out of 430 this series found him out 3 wkts at 64 in 63 overs when he had no biz playing on those surfacesStill wondering what worlds best spinner Ashwin was doing in South Africa added yet another oneIt wont be wrong to state that the offspinner left the door open for Ravindra Jadeja to come back from an injury and take the spot as Indias overseas spinner Jadeja has been a vital cog in the wheel for India in Test matches in the past few yearsWith his controlled leftarm spin and bankable batting ability he was the allrounder crucial in maintaining Indias balance in the playing eleven especially in overseas conditionsJadejas recent absence meant the sole spinner plus allrounder role went to AshwinThe pitches in South Africa were not at all conducive for spin bowling but Ashwin disappointed in not making any sort of impact with the ball With the bat however he played a couple of useful knocksThe teams next Test assignment will be against Sri Lanka in a twomatch series at home in FebruaryMarch Ashwin might get a chance here as his record at home is phenomenal But getting a place in foreign tours in the future would be really difficultAs per Ashwins record he has picked up 430 wickets in 84 Tests at an average of 2438 economy of 277 and a strike rate of 527 He has 30 fivewicket hauls and his best in 759However the bulk of his wickets 300 are in his 49 home matches where he had an average of 2140 an economy of 269 and a strike rate of 476 As many as 24 of his fivewicket hauls as well as his best performance are at homeIn his 34 matches on foreign soil he has only picked up 126 wickets at an average of 3188 an economy of 293 and a strike rate of 652 His best is 783On his sole neutral venue outing he took four wickets at an average of 1125 an economy of 180 and a strike rate of 375 Hie best was 217This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever