‘Ashwin always puts team first’: Kohli says star spinner had no issues sitting out against Pakistan

For some, it was nearly unfathomable to exclude spin ace Ravichandran Ashwin after an excellent home Test season but India skipper Virat Kohli stated that the former “understands the dynamics” of team composition.

In India’s Champions Trophy opener against Pakistan, Ashwin’s spin partner, Ravindra Jadeja played as the one slow bowler.

Asked if, as a skipper, it a difficult job to go up to tell his main strike bowler to tell him that he won’t be playing, Kohli replied that he had the Tamil Nadu spinner’s full support,

“Ashwin is a top-class bowler. Everyone knows that. And he is very professional as well. He understands the dynamics of the side that was picked in the last game and he was absolutely fine with it.

He [Ashwin] told me ‘I support you with whatever you want to do.’ That’s always been our equation,” Kohli was quoted as saying by PTI.

Kohli revealed that there has been “disagreements” with Ashwin but specifically related to on-field technical issues but never over selection matters.

“Yes, we do have disagreements on bowling plans and all those sort of things because he is a very smart guy and he has his own plans in place. Those things happen.

“But in this case where team selection and all these things come into play, he’s very professional. He understands what the team demands. He always puts the team first and was the first guy who said, ‘I have no problems with the kind of combination you’re going in with,’” Kohli said.

As a captain, Kohli has taken some tough calls including promotion of Hardik Pandya over former skipper MS Dhoni, but he again stressed on the camaraderie of the change room, which enables him to take the call that is beneficial for the team.

“Not hard [taking tough calls] at all. It’s very hard for people looking from the outside, but the kind of understanding we have within the team, it’s difficult to explain. We have a lot of respect among the players and trust among the players,” he said. “There are no issues whatsoever – I mean, I am not saying this because I want to make it sound good but if you guys ever end up experiencing that team environment, you will understand what I am saying, that there is total transparency.

“Everyone respects and understands what we decide to do as a team. If people react to it differently, then it becomes an issue, but if everyone is supportive of it, then you have no issues at all,” Kohli said.

Shami has to wait

On Umesh Yadav being preferred over a more crafty Mohammed Shami, the skipper’s logic was lack of game time and mentioned that he was spoilt for choice.

“Shami has not played 50-over cricket for a long time. I am glad he bowled really well in the first few practice games but I felt that Umesh [Yadav], Bhuvi [Bhuvneshwar Kumar], and [Jasprit] Bumrah had much more match practice and the performances to back that up in the last few series we played,” Kohli said.

“A bowler like Shami will always be in your set up because we know about his abilities, and he’s the sort of guy that can win you games in any form of cricket,” he added.