“Because it’s Edgbaston, I would prefer those who have played there before. Ashwin has played there and done well. It’s a wicket that will suit his type of bowling,” said Swann
Ravichandran Ashwin and Graeme Swann
India are back to finish their five-Test series against England with rare glory in sight. They last clinched a Test series in England in 2007 under the leadership of Rahul Dravid, India’s current head coach.
There will be no room for error in the final face-off. One of the biggest challenges for Team India would be to get the combination spot on for the fifth and final Test at Birmingham, starting on Friday. India will have the liberty to choose from off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja.
While Ashwin, who claimed four wickets in the WTC final last year, warmed the bench for all the four Tests that followed, Jadeja has claimed six wickets in the series and managed 160 runs.
It would be interesting to see which spinner the Indian team management will prefer, but for former England ace spinner Graeme Swann, it is a no-brainer—Ashwin.
“Because it’s Edgbaston, I would prefer those who have played there before. Ashwin has played there and done well. It’s a wicket that will suit his type of bowling. He has a good record there, getting Alastair Cook out [bowled in both innings for 13 and 0 in 2018]. I would play Ashwin in any Test that India play. Not only because for what he brings on the table with his bowling, but his batting as well. I think Ashwin should always get into the playing XI,” Swann said on Monday during a virtual press conference organised by Sony Sports Network, the broadcaster for India’s tour of England.
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Meanwhile, Swann firmly believes that England’s new skipper Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum will not deploy unfair tactics to win the rescheduled Test to draw the series 2-2.
“It might depend on how green the outfield is, how much moisture is in the air etc. I can tell you the pitch will be a good one. It will be fairly brown, it won’t be a green, seam-friendly [pitch]. I don’t think the likes of Stokes and McCullum would want to have hard, green pitches like some of our previous leaderships.
“They want to win their cricket on good pitches, which is how it should be. It’s a place I enjoyed bowling spin and Ashwin will surely enjoy as well,” said Swann, who felt England have a slight advantage over India: “It is a really bad time to play against England because they have just played three Tests vs the Kiwis.”
