Former England player accuses Kohli for not playing Ashwin due to his personal tussle

Two defeats in two games and India find themselves in a precarious situation in the ongoing T20 World Cup. Heading into the tournament, a team that was hailed as favourites by many experts has failed miserably in the opening two matches and is staring at an early exit after losing two straight matches.

Apart from the team’s mediocre performance in all three departments, questions are also being asked about the team selection as to why some proven match-winners are warming the bench while those struggling for form are getting repeated chances in the Playing XI.

The player in question here is veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who was picked in the 15-member squad owing to his experience but the skipper and team management don’t consider him good enough to feature in the starting line-up.

What’s baffling is that while other teams are playing with three spinners, the Indian team entered both the matches with three-pacers and two spinners, one of them a bowling all-rounder.

Former England cricketer Nick Compton feels that “Kohli’s prickly relationship” with Ashwin is the reason why the off-spinner can’t find a place in the side. He even questioned if giving such an autonomy to a skipper is beneficial to the team.