'Niggle' rules Ashwin out of Deodhar Trophy

Ashwin’s eventful week ended on a not so positive note after he was ruled out of the upcoming Deodhar Trophy to be held between March 4-8, a day after he was named the captain of India A.

Ashwin’s eventful week ended on a not so positive note after he was ruled out of the upcoming Deodhar Trophy to be held between March 4-8, a day after he was named the captain of India A.

"Ashwin has a niggling issue and the BCCI Medical Team has advised him a week’s rest," acting secretary Amitabh Chaudhary was quoted as saying in a BCCI press release.

However it was not specified what exactly is the niggle.

The Deodhar Trophy was a chance for Ashwin to showcase his 50-over bowling skills and convince the selectors, whose preferred choices in the shorter format are Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav.

The motivation level for a senior player to play a particular format diminishes if he knows that his chances of immediate comeback is next to nil.

The selection committee decided to include Shahbaz Nadeem as the replacement. The selectors have named Ankit Bawne as captain of the India A team and suggested that Akshdeep Nath will move to India B squad to facilitate the change.

On Monday, Ashwin was named the captain of IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab

India A squad: R Ashwin (Captain), Prithvi Shaw, Unmukt Chand, Akshdeep Nath, Shubman Gill, Ricky Bhui, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan (WK), Krunal Pandya, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini, Basil Thampi, Kulwant Khejroliya, Amandeep Khare, Rohit Rayudu

India B squad: Shreyas Iyer (Captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Ankit Bawne, Manoj Tiwary, Siddhesh Lad, KS Bharat (WK), Jayant Yadav, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, Hanuma Vihari, Siddarth Kaul, Khaleel Ahmed, Harshal Patel, Umesh Yadav, Rajat Patidar