Defending a paltry score of 106, India gave R Ashwin just two overs with the ball in their defeat to New Zealand in Bengaluru, raising a lot of eyebrows.
After collapsing from 408-3 to 462 all out in the second innings, India were all but out of the first Test in Bengaluru. After some late evening drama on day four that saw only four balls being bowled in the New Zealand run-chase before bad light stopped play, the match resumed on the fifth morning under gloomy skies.
Jasprit Bumrah's second-ball wicket of Tom Latham got the crowd going and gave India hope in their defence of 106, but Devon Conway and Will Young dug in and took them to a position of safety. Conway was dismissed for 35, opening another potential door for India, but Rachin Ravindra's brisk 39 not out off 46 balls quashed all hopes as the visitors ran away with an easy victory in the end.
It took New Zealand 27.4 overs to overhaul the target. Surprisingly, India captain Rohit Sharma did not employ the highest wicket-taker in his side, R Ashwin, for the first 24 of those overs. Ashwin was the fifth bowler to be introduced and bowled only two overs for six runs, having had virtually no opportunity to create an impact on the chase.
This was just the second time in his career that Ashwin was introduced as the fifth bowler in the fourth innings of a home Test. Interestingly, both those occasions have come this year itself, with the first such instance happening in Rajkot against England, where India had the same bowling lineup as Bengaluru, but had the cushion of defending a mammoth score of 556. England were bundled out for 122 with Ashwin taking 1-19 from his six overs. On the contrary, Ashwin has opened the bowling in the fourth innings of a home Test 13 times. Overall, he has taken 73 wickets at an average of 16.90 in the fourth innings of home Tests.
