Fans react as Ravi Ashwin makes comeback to Indian ODI team for Australia series

Ravi Ashwin has made a return to India's ODI setup after 18 months.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on September 18, 2023, announced the Indian team squads for the upcoming three-match ODI series against Australia which saw the surprise return of Ravi Ashwin to the fold.

BCCI announced two squads with KL Rahul leading the India team in the first two ODIs, with Rohit Sharma. Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya, and Kuldeep Yadav rested. However, all the big guns return for the third and final ODI, which will be India’s last bilateral outing before the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 begins.

The three ODIs between India and Australia will be played on September 22, 24 and 27 in Mohali, Indore, and Rajkot respectively. Australia have already announced their squad for the India tour and the World Cup.

India have included both Ravi Ashwin and Washington Sundar in their 15-member squad for the first two ODIs against Australia. Also named in the first two ODIs are Ruturaj Gaikwad and Tilak Varma as well. Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, and Shubman Gill are the other batters in the squad.

The bowling unit remains the same which was picked for the Asia Cup with Ravindra Jadeja leading the spin attack and being the vice-captain for the first two ODIs. Mohammed Siraj, Mohammad Shami, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, and Prasidh Krishna form the pace unit.

Ravichandran Ashwin makes surprise return to Indian squad for all three ODIs vs. Australia; Fans react on social media

Ravi Ashwin’s comeback to the Indian ODI squad was a huge surprise. With 151 wickets from 113 matches, Ashwin ranks 14th among all Indian bowlers in ODIs. The off-spinner, who was a member of India's 2011 World Cup-winning squad and the subsequent 2015 World Cup squad, fell out of favor with the format after the 2017 Champions Trophy and a subsequent tour to the West Indies.

Ashwin has only played two One-Day Internationals (ODIs) in the six years since, both against South Africa in early 2022. He only had one wicket in those two games.

The Indian cricket team fans were surprised and debated about the selection of Ravi Ashwin in the Indian ODI squad and possibly in the World Cup squad as well on social media platform X.

Here are the posts: