India vs West Indies | ‘Astonished by Ashwin’s exclusion’: Gavaskar

North Sound (Antigua) | Jagran Sports Desk: Legendary Indian batsman Sunil Gavaskar on Friday expressed his ‘astonishment’ over the exclusion of Ravichandran Ashwin from the playing XI against the West Indies.

“(The selection) astonished me,” said Gavaskar while doing commentary for official broadcasters Sony.

Ashwin has scored 552 runs with four hundreds and taken 60 wickets with four five-fors against the West Indies in 11 Tests (home and away).

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“A man with that kind of record, especially against West Indies. He doesn't find a place in this playing XI. That is stunning. Astonishing,” said Gavaskar.  

However, vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane defended the team management's hard call as he felt that combination warranted Ravindra Jadeja as the single spinner and Hanuma Vihari as the sixth batsman.

“It's difficult when you miss a player like Ashwin but team management is always thinking as to what is the best combination,” said Rahane.

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“They thought Jadeja was a good option on this wicket as we needed a sixth batsman, who can actually bowl. Vihari can actually bowl on this track. So that was the communication between captain and coach. It is hard to find players like Ashwin and Rohit (Sharma) sit out but's all for the team,” Rahane said at a post-match media interaction.

(With PTI inputs)