'Would see the pitch and be very tempted to play him': Ravi Shastri reacts to Ashwin getting dropped for 5th Test

Ravichandran Ashwin was not selected for India's fifth Test against England, which meant that the ace spinner did not play a single match in the tour but former head coach Ravi Shastri said that the team was close to selecting him in earlier matches.

A lot may have changed for both India and England in the nearly year-long gap between the fourth and fifth Tests between the two teams but one aspect that remains the same is the fact that the visitors have chosen not to play their ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin. Ashwin, who is the highest wicket taker among active Test cricketers, had not been selected for any of the previous four matches of the series that were played last year.

R Ashwin has not played a single match throughout the five-match series.  (AP)

However, former India head coach Ravi Shastri revealed that Ashwin was very close to playing some role on the field during the series. Shastri was head coach of the team last year when the previous four matches of the series were played.

“Every time we went to the ground in the morning, he would always be there in the 12. We would see the pitch and be very tempted, should we play him, should we not,” Shastri said while doing commentary on Day 1. Shastri is part of the Sky Sports commentary team in England for the series.

“Then suddenly, 20 minutes before the toss there would be a cloud cover and it would overcast. It happened at the Oval and we (decided to) stick with Shardul Thakur and he did the job. Two fifties and wickets,” he said.

Thakur had scored two attacking half centuries in the match in addition to taking three wickets as India won the match by 157 runs. It gave them a 2-1 lead in the series and they are now trying to seal a first Test series win in England since 2007.