ENG vs IND | 5th Test | Manjrekar reckons Ashwin won’t be a part of Edgbaston Test

Former Indian Cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar feels that Ravichandran Ashwin will be left out of India's playing eleven, and Ravindra Jadeja will play ahead of him in the one-off Test against England in Birmingham, Edgbaston.

In a virtual interaction organised by Sony Sports, Manjrekar remarked that India's premier off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin could miss out on playing the Edgbaston Test if the Indian team is forced to pick between him or left-arm spin all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja.

 Last year, the 35-year-old all spinner didn't feature in all four Test matches in England as the Indian team chose Jadeja as their lone spin option alongside four pacers.

The cricketer-turned commentator reckons that the team management will be looking to solidify the batting order, and in that process, they may go with an extra batting option and the number one ICC ranked Test all-rounder will be preferred over Ashwin due to his superior batting skills.

"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 always be looking to sort of adjust the batting issues," Sanjay Manjrekar told Sony Sports.

The team composition will reflect that although India would want to play four seam bowlers if the pitch and conditions are going to be conducive and might be tempted to have an extra batter in that team to go with three seamers and one spinner.

But the choice of seamers will also depend on who can make a batting contribution and with a spinner as well, (Ravindra) Jadeja might get the preference because of his ability to contribute more with the bat than (Ravichandran) Ashwin. There is quality bowling but not at the cost of batting depth/solidity in the team composition," added Manjrekar.

Meanwhile, Ashwin has joined his teammates at Leicester after recovering from Covid-19.

Incumbent Test opener KL Rahul will be missing the series due to injury and according to Manjrekar, Rahul's absence will be a huge setback for team India.

"It was just the remarkable effort of KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma at the top that saw India put up good enough scores to get the bowling make a match out of it and get that scoreline 2-1. With KL Rahul missing out this time, it's a massive setback for India. But there is hope in selection of Shreyas Iyer if he gets a game, and hopefully, Hanuma Vihari figures as well; Cheteshwar Pujara is making a comeback," Manjrekar opined.