Ravindra Jadeja could be preferred again over Ravichandran Ashwin: Sanjay Manjrekar

Ravichandran Ashwin and Sanjay Manjrekar

The sight of veteran offie Ravichandran Ashwin warming the bench for the first four Tests in last year's India vs England Pataudi Trophy series raised a lot of eyebrows.

This time, under new leadership [Rohit Sharma] and management [Rahul Dravid & Co], it remains to be seen whether Ashwin will get a look-in for the fifth rescheduled Test, starting in Birmingham on July 1. Ashwin, who joined the Indian Test team late after being infected by Covid-19, is not part of the tourists' lone warm-up tie - against Leicestershire.

Former India player Sanjay Manjrekar, now a leading commentator, believes Ashwin, ranked World No.2 Test bowler and No.3 all-rounder, may be excluded again if there's a toss-up between him and World No.1 Test all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja.

"The team management knows that the big challenge is to bat well, get 300 runs minimum and hopefully another big score in the second innings. So, whatever team composition is planned, they will be always looking to sort of adjust the batting issues.

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"Although India would want to play four seam bowlers if the pitch and the conditions are conducive, they might be tempted to have an extra batter and go with three seamers and maybe one spinner. The choice of seamers will also depend on who could make a batting contribution. And with the spinner as well, Jadeja might get the preference for his ability to contribute more with the bat than Ashwin. So, the composition will completely depend on quality bowling, but not at the cost of batting depth," Manjrekar said on Thursday during a virtual interaction organised by Sony Sports Network, the broadcaster for India's tour to Ireland and England.

Meanwhile, terming injured KL Rahul's absence as a "huge loss" to Team India, Manjrekar said the team composition will be crucial. "Because KL Rahul is missing - which is a huge blow for India - and if you look at the Top 5 or 6, you are sort of worried about
the batting.

You don't have a situation where you have No.3, 4 and 5 in great form and recent form playing in foreign conditions. So, the team composition will reflect that," he said.