India vs England: 'Will be surprised if R Ashwin doesn't play at Oval', says Ashish Nehra

India’s balance (with regards to the four pacers and one spinner formula) has constantly been a talking point in the series, with Ravichandran Ashwin, the hosts’ premier spinner, warming the benches for the first three Tests. Now, as the action shifts to the Oval for the fourth Test, former India pacer Ashish Nehra feels that the off-spinner is almost certain to get the nod in the playing XI, given that conditions are expected to assist the spinners. “I’ll be very surprised if that happens (Ashwin doesn’t play) because Oval is one wicket where there is some help for the spinners. If this Test would have been in Nottingham or Manchester, India could have gone in with four pacers as Virat Kohli believes in fast bowling, and Jadeja as the fifth bowling option,” the cricketer-turned-commentator said in a virtual press conference ahead of the fourth Test. [caption id=“attachment_9347191” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] File image of Ravichandran Ashwin. Sportzpics[/caption] While highlighting the unpredictable conditions in England, Nehra gave a teaser of what to expect from the Oval pitch. Notably, he added that Ashwin might get a go at the expense of a fast bowler. “Oval is known as a good batting surface. England is a place where conditions are changing with every session, depending on weather or when you talk about the Dukes ball, damp weather, up north, down south – there are too many ifs and buts. Oval is one wicket where we’ve seen little extra bounce but there isn’t much movement since it’s in London, especially if it’s a sunny day. “But at the same time, what I have been hearing in the last 10 days in London is that it’s quite cold. So it’s difficult to predict conditions in England but you might see Ashwin. There’s a chance of him playing in place of one fast bowler,” the pacer added. On Ishant looking out of rhythm in the last Test Ishant Sharma seemed out of sorts in the Leeds Test as he went wicket-less and bowled a number of no balls. While the experienced India seamer didn’t feature in the first Test, he has five wickets to his name from three innings thus far. Nehra admitted that Ishant didn’t appear as his usual self in the last Test but threw his weight behind the pacer, adding that a player with such great experience shouldn’t be judged on the basis of a few bad performances. “Yes, Ishant didn’t look in the best of the rhythm. But if you see, he didn’t play the first game. And even in the second game, it took him a little while, but a player like him who has played 100 Tests did get back into the groove and he had a good Test at Lord’s**.** I am not a big believer of judging a player like Ishant on the basis of one match performance. We’re only discussing him since we lost the Test, and we didn’t lose it because of him.” Watch the 4th test of India tour of England, LIVE from 3:30 PM IST on SONY SIX & SONY TEN 3 (Hindi) channels from 2nd to 6th September 2021.