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Should India include Ashwin against Sri Lanka?

June 06, 2017 08:38 IST

Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin may come into the fray since Sri Lanka's batting line-up has a few left-handers.
Play Selector and pick India's playing eleven for Game 2 of the ICC Champions Trophy.

Ravichandran Ashwin

IMAGE: Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin. Photograph: BCCI

A confident India, after defeating Pakistan in the first game, will look to continue their form when they take on Sri Lanka in the second match of the ICC Champions Trophy at the Oval on Thursday, June 8.

After a near perfect show with both bat and ball, it remains to be seen what changes India contemplate ahead of the second game.

Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin may come into the fray since the Sri Lankan batting line-up included four left-handers in the top six in the islanders' first match against New Zealand.

IMAGE: Captain Virat Kohli. Photograph: BCCI/Twitter

It will be interesting to see if India opt for a straight swap between Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja or if they decide to drop a fast bowler to accommodate the offie.

Jadeja has been India's preferred spinner whenever the Indians gave gone in with one spinner.

Ashwin has played just 5 ODIs since January last year in which he has picked up 5 wickets, but has gone for more than 6 runs per over -- 6.86 to be precise.

On the other hand, Jadeja has featured in 9 ODIs in that same period, taking 9 wickets with an economy rate of 5.3.

But Ashwin is a proven performer and boasts of a good record in ODIs, with 145 wickets in 105 ODIs, more importantly at an economy rate of 4.51.

Kedar Jadhav's poor display in the field could bring him under the scanner with the in-form Dinesh Karthik waiting on the sidelines. Please click the boxes below to select your Indian team for the game against Sri Lanka.

Harish Kotian