Abu Dhabi: Luck finally smiled on Ravichandran Ashwin as the senior spinner was picked in the Team India playing XI for the T20 World Cup match against Afghanistan on Wednesday.
The off-spinner replaced Varun Chakravarthy, who has a niggle.
India effected another change with Surya Kumar Yadav returning at the expense of Ishan Kishan.
Virat Kohli’s fortunes, though, didn’t change as he lost the toss for the third straight time in the tournament. Predictably, Afghanistan skipper Mohammad Nabi asked India to bat first.
India, having batted first in the previous two games, lost heavily to both Pakistan and New Zealand and have their backs to the wall. Not only will they have to win their remaining three matches, India will have to bank on other results if they are to progress to the semifinals – which looks very slim.
Ashwin was not part of the playing XI against Pakistan and New Zealand. Neither was he preferred in the Test matches against England in August-September, despite cricket pundits urging Kohli to play him, especially in the third and fourth matches of the series.
The last time Ashwin played white-ball cricket for India was way back in July 2017.
Also Read: Fact Check: Did R Ashwin Complain Against Captain Virat Kohli To BCCI?
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