"No Positive Takeaways": R Ashwin's Brutal View On India's Loss In 1st ODI Against Australia

Former Indian cricket team spinner R Ashwin said that there were no positives for the Shubman Gill-led side in their seven-wicket loss in the first ODI encounter against Australia on Sunday. India were completely outplayed in the rain-curtailed match with both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli failing to score big. The visitors suffered a top-order batting collapse with Nitish Kumar Reddy and KL Rahul playing cameos to take their total to 136/9 in 26 overs. In his analysis, Ashwin said that the bowling performance should not be judged due to the low total and ended saying that there were no positive to take from the match.

"There were no positive takeaways from this game, maybe Nitish Reddy's batting. I mean, it is what it is. We had a really bad day. I hope Nitish gets to bowl more," Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

"I think India have to continue with this seam bowling attack. It will be tough to judge the bowlers as they had only 131 to defend. If the conditions are a bit drier, then you can consider bringing in Kuldeep Yadav. I think in this series, it is definitely worth giving Prasidh Krishna a look. If Harshit does not work very well, then you can go to Prasidh," he added.

Ashwin added that India were unlucky to lose the toss given the weather conditions and how that impacted the match.

"I would say that India were a little unlucky today. Firstly, India lost the toss, and it was a difficult day to play cricket. Team India came into this match after playing in Delhi, and Shreyas Iyer must have practiced in Mumbai, Even though there is a red-soil pitch with bounce there, it is different while playing in Perth. Mitchell Marsh hit a brilliant pull shot in his innings, and when Iyer faced a similar delivery, he was caught down the leg side. So, it is not a technical issue. Please don't dive into the fact that it is technical, it is purely condition-based," Ashwin explained.

Topics mentioned in this article

Ravichandran Ashwin Shubman Gill Nitish Kumar Reddy Australia Cricket Team India Cricket Team Australia vs India 2025 Cricket