You will be shocked to see how many ODIs Ravi Ashwin has played for India in last 6 years

Ravi Ashwin has been named in the Indian ODI squad for the Australia series ahead of World Cup.

Ravi Ashwin has been trending on social media platforms ever since he got included in the Indian ODI squad for the upcoming three-match series against Australia which will begin on September 22, 2023.

The BCCI released two lineups, with KL Rahul leading the Indian team for the first two ODIs. Kuldeep Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma, and Virat Kohli have been given a break. The third and last ODI, which will be India's final bilateral match before the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 starts, however, sees the return of all the major guns.

The three one-day internationals between India and Australia will take place in Mohali, Indore, and Rajkot on September 22, 24, and 27 respectively. Australia have already released its World Cup and India tour rosters.

Washington Sundar and R Ashwin are both a part of India's 15-member squad for the opening two ODIs against Australia. Ruturaj Gaikwad and Tilak Varma are additional players mentioned in the first two ODIs. The other batters on the team are Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, and Shubman Gill.

The bowling lineup from the Asia Cup is still in place, with Ravindra Jadeja serving as vice-captain for the first two ODIs and as the leader of the spin attack. The pace unit is composed of Mohammed Siraj, Mohammad Shami, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, and Prasidh Krishna.

How many ODIs has Ravi Ashwin played in the past six years?

Ravichandran Ashwin has played 113 ODIs for India since making his debut in 2010 and has picked 151 wickets with a best of 4/25 at an economy of 4.94. He was part of India’s 2011 World Cup and 2013 ICC Champions Trophy winning teams.

However, his downfall in ODI cricket started in 2017 with the rise of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal. In the year 2017, he started by playing in the three ODIs against England and picked 3 wickets.

His next assignment was the 2017 Champions Trophy, where he played three matches and only managed 1 wicket, which came against South Africa. Indian management still persisted with Ashwin when India toured West Indies. He didn’t get to bowl in the first ODI as it was washed out due to rain, but in the next two ODIs, he picked 4 wickets.

He wasn’t picked for the ODIs five years after this tour of West Indies and only made a short appearance on the tour of South Africa, where in two ODIs, he picked 1 wicket for 121 runs.

This means, that in the last 7 years, since 2016, he has played 11 ODIs and picked 9 wickets in total.

And in last 6 years, Ravi Ashwin has played only 2 ODIs and managed to pick sole wicket on South Africa tour in January, 2022.

Hence it was a very surprising call-up for Ravi Ashwin in the Indian ODI series against Australia before the World Cup.