Ravichandran Ashwin is wreaking havoc in England’s batting line-up in the series’ early exchanges, a situation exacerbated by the fact there were seven left-handers in England’s XI at Edgbaston.
The 31-year-old off-spinner has a stellar record to left-handers: while he’s by no means poor to right-handers, averaging 26.50 overall in Tests, to left-handers he’s extraordinary, averaging 17.45.
With Dawid Malan struggling and Ben Stokes’ likely replacement for the second Test (during his trial in Bristol) Moeen Ali also a lefty, who else could the home side call upon to challenge the champion twirler?
Joe Clarke
OK, it almost certainly won’t happen, but what about Alex Hales? The selection of Adil Rashid in the first Test proves you don’t have to sign-up for county red-ball cricket to be considered for Test action, while Jos Buttler’s re-introduction into the Test fold proved that Smith is not afraid to back aggressive players more accustomed to the shorter formats. If the blockers aren’t doing their jobs, why not go for a counter-attacking option?
