Ashwin and Jadeja victims of unfair expectations, says Rohit Sharma after India’s first home series loss in over 12 years.
Ashwin and Jadeja have come under criticism after both of India’s stalwarts had an under-par performance with both bat and ball.
According to their skipper Rohit Sharma, India is not deterred by the recent performance of their veteran spinners. India’s spin trio, which featured Washington Sundar, was outbowled by New Zealand’s on a slow, dry Pune ground. This resulting in their first home Test series loss since 2012.
“I mean, see look, there is too much expectation on those two guys,” Rohit said of Ashwin and Jadeja. “Every game they play, they are expected to take wickets, they are expected to run through the team. And they are expected to win Test matches for us. I don’t think that’s fair. It’s the responsibility of all of us to make sure that we win tests, not just the two guys.”
Ashwin went at nearly four runs per over in the third innings in Pune. This after giving up 94 runs in 16 overs for only one wicket in the second innings in Bengaluru. This was his lowest economy rate numbers in a Test innings when he bowled at least ten overs. In the second Test, he had gotten off to a strong start by having Tom Latham leg before wicket for 15 in the eighth over after turning his sixth delivery. But, particularly under these circumstances, Ashwin found it difficult to provide India the control for which he is renowned when the New Zealand batsmen displayed a range of sweeps.
Jadeja too found it difficult to resist New Zealand’s assertive strategy. Devon Conway, for example, continued sweeping and reverse-sweeping with offensive activity even after India posted a short third and deep point. These shots affected the fields that Rohit had set as well as the lines and lengths of the senior spinners.
Rohit refused to read too much into these numbers and said it was natural for even Ashwin and Jadeja to have off days.
“Of course, by their standards, they know where they stand. And what they haven’t been able to do or what they haven’t done really well,” Rohit said. “But again, both of them have played so much cricket here and have such huge contributions to our success of having that home streak of 18 series [wins]. These two have played a major role in that. A couple of series, I am not going to look into too much, especially with those two guys.
“They know exactly what happens. Sometimes they are allowed to have some bad games here and there. And not go by that expectation that this is the opportunity for me to take wickets and run through the opposition. That’s not going to happen every time. So you got to be ready with the other guys also to step in.”
Additionally, Rohit opposed overburdening Ashwin and Jadeja. The other spinners should share the responsibility, he demanded.
“Like we keep talking about with the batters it is not the responsibility of a few individuals. It is the collective batting unit that needs to come together,” Rohit said. “So it’s the same with the bowling unit as well. If Ash doesn’t do well, it’s Jadeja who needs to come to the party or Washy [Washington Sundar] or Kuldeep [Yadav] or Axar [Patel], those guys.”