'India paid price for that': Sanjay Manjrekar blames Ashwin's return for Rahul & Co.'s 3-0 series loss vs SA

Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has blamed R Ashwin's return in India's limited-overs setup as one of the reasons behind the team's 3-0 whitewash against South Africa in the recently-concluded ODI series. India lost the third and final ODI against South Africa by 4 runs on Sunday (January 24) in Cape Town to lose the series 3-0.

Manjrekar, who has often been critical of Ashwin's performances away from home, has once again come down hard on the senior Indian spinner. Manjrekar believes India paid the price by picking Ashwin in their ODI squad. The off-spinner was not part of India's limited-overs squad since 2017 before making his comeback in the T20 World Cup 2021 last year.

Ashwin returned to India's ODI squad after a staggering five years as he was included in the squad for the ODI series against South Africa. However, he failed to make an impact and returned with just one wicket in the first two games. Ashwin finished with figures of1/53 in the first ODI before going wicket-less while conceding 68 runs off his spell in the second game.

He was dropped from the playing XI in the third and final encounter as KL Rahul-led India aimed to avoid a clean sweep. However, India suffered back-to-back three defeats to lose the ODI series 3-0 after a disappointing 2-1 loss in the Test series.

“Ashwin strangely came back into India’s ODI plans for some reason. India paid a price for that. He played the two crucial games, did nothing much. (Yuzvendra) Chahal also under the scanner. Prasidh Krishna needs to be backed a bit more. Also, in 50-overs, Mohammed Shami can be a good option," said Manjrekar on ESPNCricinfo.

The cricketer turned commentator also stated that Bhuvneshwar Kumar's time with the Indian team is all but over as the senior pacer has been far from his best for quite a while now. He backed Deepak Chahar to be selected over Bhuvneshwar as the swing bowler in the team.

“Bowling wise, Bhuvneshwar Kumar had given signs even before this series that he is finding it difficult to get back to his best. I guess that issue is closed after seeing his performance in the series. And Deepak Chahar, the one ball to get Janneman Malan, should tell selectors that he is a better option," said Manjrekar.

The former cricketer called India's 3-0 series loss against the Proteas as one of their worst performances in the country.

“The way the match ended sums up the whole trip for India. It has to be one of the poorest Indian tours to South Africa. That’s how it was destined to be. It just wasn’t India’s time in South Africa. It is a bad loss," Manjrekar concluded.