As India faced England in the postponed fifth Test on Friday (July 01) in Birmingham, former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri highlighted how perplexing Ravichandran Ashwin's selection in the playing XI has been in overseas Tests.

Leading the series 2-1, the visitors once again left their premier spinner out of the starting line-up and instead trusted all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Shardul Thakur to do the job. As a result, Ashwin remained absent from the whole Test series against England.

According to reports, the off-spinner was also given consideration for captaincy but the notion was rejected since he was not a guaranteed starter in the starting XI.

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Shastri revealed that they had to take the veteran spinner out of action due to the weather in England while commentating on the fifth Test match for the official broadcasters.

“Even last year, every time we went to the ground in the morning, he would always be there in the 12, and we would see the pitch, and we would be very tempted, should we play him, should we not, and suddenly 20 minutes before the toss there would be a cloud cover, it would get overcast (laughs). It happened at The Oval, we stuck with Shardul Thakur and he did the job. Two fifties and wickets” said the former all-rounder.

The Edgbaston pitch has typically favored spinners, and Ashwin took up seven wickets during his last outing there in 2018. There have also been rumors that India will use both of its front-line spinners, given the previous England and New Zealand series' pitch and environmental factors.

The India skipper Jasprit Bumrah must have been forced to bench him due to the cloudy weather at the toss. The fans took this opportunity to express their disappointment.

Here's what a fan tweeted:

The 35-year-old will also not feature in the white-ball series against England.

(FIRSTPOST INPUTS)