"Astonishing": Sunil Gavaskar Unhappy With R Ashwin's Exclusion From Antigua Test

Ravichandran Ashwin and Rohit Sharma failed to make India's playing XI in the first Test against the West Indies in Antigua on Thursday. Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar, who is a part of the commentary panel for the broadcaster of the series, was stunned at Virat Kohli's decision to leave Ashwin out. "[The selection] astonished me," Gavaskar said during the commentary. "A man with that kind of record, especially against the West Indies. He doesn't find a place in this playing XI. That is stunning. Astonishing."

In 11 Tests against the West Indies, Ashwin has taken 60 wickets at 21.85, and has scored four hundreds.

The ongoing Test is the 4th straight five-day game that Ashwin has missed. He was on the sidelines in three of the four Tests against Australia due to injury.

Ashwin, who is yet to play international cricket for India this year, also sat out in the first innings of the tour game with flu-like symptoms, but was available for the second innings and the ongoing Test.

In his last international match for India, Ashwin took three wickets each in Australia's two innings and also helped rescue India with the bat from 120 for 6 on the first morning of the series.

Ashwin's Test career now stands at 65 matches for 342 wickets at 25.43 and 2361 runs at 29.14. He is the fastest in the world to both 250 and 300 Test wickets.

Ashwin, who is already out of the limited-overs scheme of things, has failed to finish India's last two tours due to his fitness.

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team Ravichandran Ashwin Sunil Gavaskar West Indies vs India 2019 Cricket