England vs India: Ravichandran Ashwin reveals why he was dropped for the Lord's Test

After Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was left out of the playing XI for the second Test match against England at Lord's, social media users began to speculate on why Virat Kohli chose four pacers. The reason for Virat Kohli's decision to leave him out of the second Test has now been explained by the man himself.

While interacting with Team India's fielding coach R Sridhar, Ashwin revealed that he was expected to play at Lord's since the weather in the days leading up to the second Test was ideal for spinners. The Indian management, on the other hand, decided to go with four pacers due to the sudden change in weather and the outpour of rain on the morning of the second Test. 

"The funny thing was, before the match, they were like, ‘There’s a heatwave. Please be ready mate. You might play.’ Upon coming to breakfast in the morning, rains started lashing out. I asked, ‘Won’t you tell about heatwave after it came? Why gave me hope only for it to end in disappointment!", Ashwin said in his YouTube video. 

Ashwin was not a part of the first Test match at Trent Bridge. He has not played a single game in the ongoing Test series against England. Ashwin last appeared for India against New Zealand in the final of the World Test Championship in June. It will be interesting to see if Ashwin is included in the playing XI for Headingley Test as the pitch there tends to support spinners in the fourth innings. However, the selection will depend on the weather conditions on the day of the match. The third match will be played from August 25 to August 29. 

India grab an epic win at Lord's

India went from losing the game to registering one of its most iconic victories in recent times. India dominated the game on Day 1 with openers KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma owning the show, followed by a valiant effort from Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, and Rishabh Pant.

India posted 364 runs on the board after the end of the first innings. However, all of India's hard work was put to the ground when England skipper Joe Root helped his side post a massive total of 391 runs with his amazing 180-run knock. Root's unbeaten 180 helped England bounce back strongly. 

England pacers continued the momentum on Day 4 as they dismissed in-form Indian openers Rahul and Rohit early in their second innings. Indian skipper Virat Kohli was sent back to the pavilion not so long after. Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, who had been out of touch for the past couple of months, forged a great partnership to take India to a respectable total.

The duo was dismissed right before the end of Day 4. Rishabh Pant and Ishant Sharma resumed batting for India on Day 5 but couldn't continue for long. Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami came in and scored some crucial runs at the bottom. India then bowled England out in less than two sessions to win the Test match.

Image: PTI