Ashwin might have been ‘hurt’ by Sundar’s selection in Perth: Bharat Arun

For the longest time, Ravichandran Ashwin had been no stranger to being snubbed to accommodate Ravindra Jadeja in overseas Tests, but the Gautam Gambhir-led Indian management made a very surprising selection call in the first Test against Australia in Perth by picking Washington Sundar as the lone spinner.

Ashwin returned to the starting XI for the second Test in Adelaide but then announced a shock retirement after being overlooked for the third Test in Brisbane, where the veteran spinner called it quits from international cricket on the final day of the rain-marred game. 

Speaking on former India cricketer Subramaniam Badrinath’s YouTube channel ‘Cric It with Badri’, former India bowling coach Bharat Arun reckoned that the Perth snub would have really hurt Ashwin.

“In the very first Test of the tour, a big star like Ravichandran Ashwin was snubbed for a youngster like Washington Sundar. That would certainly have hurt him,” Bharat Arun said.

Badrinath, who has played nine international matches for India, agreed with Arun’s statement.

“In the past, Ravindra Jadeja played ahead of Ashwin a lot in overseas tours but I don’t think Ashwin was affected by that. But I feel that this time around, he might have been hurt by being pushed behind Sundar in the pecking order,” Badrinath said.

The former India bowling coach further reckoned that a ‘series of missteps’, starting with the Perth snub, might have forced Ashwin to retire early and leave the camp.

“Jadeja was slightly ahead of Ashwin on batting, and he was a left-hander as well. I myself have, at times, personally explained to Ashwin the reason for picking Jadeja over him. Ashwin took it [the reasoning] very well, too,” Arun explained.

“But here, after having played so much top-level cricket, the tour got off to a false start for him. I think he would have been fine had they dropped him after two consecutive failures. But they dropped him for the very first Test, then played him in a pink-ball Test, and then dropped him again for the third Test.”

“After this sequence of events, Ashwin might have thought to himself that it’s best to move on.”