After a long wait, India's ODI team for the South Africa tour has been announced. Captain Rohit Sharma's name is not included in the team selected for the three-match ODI series. Rohit Sharma suffered an injury during practice in Mumbai before the Indian Test team left for South Africa. In his place, the command of the team has been handed over to KL Rahul.
This also means that Virat Kohli will now play the ODI series under the leadership of KL Rahul. But amidst all these developments, the veteran off-spinner Ashwin has finally made a comeback to the ODIs after a long hiatus. Ashwin has returned to India's ODI team after four years. He played his last ODI match against West Indies in June 2017.
As far as the performance against South Africa is concerned, Ashwin has played a total of 7 ODIs in which he has snared three wickets with an economy rate of 5.09. However, he only has one wicket in his kitty in 3 ODIs with an economy rate 6.03 playing against Proteas on South African soil.
The star Indian spinner played his last match on June 30, 2017 at North Sound on West Indies tour. Ashwin then took three wickets. In that match, the Indian team scored 251 runs for the loss of four wickets. Captain MS Dhoni played an unbeaten innings of 78 off 79 balls. In reply, West Indies were bundled out for 158 runs in 38.1 overs and India won the match by 93 runs. In 10 overs, Ashwin had taken three victims for 28 runs while bowling a maiden. He bagged the wickets of captain Jason Holder, Ashley Nurse and Miguel Cummins.
Ashwin played the last match against West Indies in the year 2017. That match was the 3898th match of the International cricket. Since then, the number of ODI matches in International cricket has reached 4338. This implies, when Ashwin played his last one-day match in international cricket, a total of 440 ODI matches have been played by all the teams thus far. So Ashwin's return to Team India is happening after a long wait of four years and 440 ODIs.
The 35-year-old, who spearheaded Team India's spin attack in the 2013 Champions Trophy and the 2015 50-over World Cup, has 150 wickets in a span of 111 ODI matches. His tally includes one four-for.
Ashwin has always been a match-winner and has delivered with the ball whenever the team needed him the most. But his debatable fitness has always put in a spot. Nevertheless, the veteran will look to grab the opportunity with both hands in order to prove his bowling prowess.
The three ODIs between India and South Africa will be played on January 19, 21, and 23. The three-match Test series is scheduled to end on January 15.
