How has Ravichandran Ashwin performed in his last 5 ODIs?

Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has been named in a surprising selection move to the Indian squad for the upcoming ODI series against Australia, starting Friday, September 22.

While it is undeniable that Ashwin is among the all-time greats in Test cricket, he has hardly featured in the Indian lineup in the 50-over format.

Despite being a regular member of the ODI side from 2010 to 2017, India's transition towards having more wrist-spinning options has resulted in Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal taking the mantle as lead spinners.

The 37-year-old also took a step back in the spin-bowling all-rounders pecking order, with Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, and Washington Sundar playing more recently than Ashwin.

Yet, the unforeseeable quadriceps injury to Axar Patel in India's loss to Bangladesh in their final Super Four clash of the Asia Cup has opened the door for Ashwin to stake a last-minute claim to the Indian World Cup squad.

His selection for the Australian series has made fans curious about when the champion off-spinner last featured for the Men in Blue in ODIs and his performances in his previous few 50-over games.

For that, we go way back to January 2022, when Ashwin last played an ODI game for India, which happened to be the second ODI of the three-match series in South Africa.

Ashwin played the first two ODIs of that series and picked up 1/53 in the first game, followed by a dismal 0/68 in the next outing as India suffered defeats in both encounters.

Before that, the 37-year-old played in the first three games of the five-match series in the West Indies ages ago, in June 2017. While the first game of that series was washed out after 39 overs of the Indian batting innings, Ashwin picked up figures of 1/47 in nine overs and 3/28 in ten overs, respectively, in the next two games.

For the uninitiated, if his last five bowling performances are to be looked at (since the first ODI in the West Indies in 2017 was washed out), it will bring to the forefront the infamous Champions Trophy final against Pakistan that year.

In many ways, the crushing defeat, along with Ashwin's woeful 0/70 in ten overs in that game, led to his regular exclusion from the Indian ODI squad.

Nevertheless, the off-spinning all-rounder boasts respectable overall numbers in ODIs, with 151 wickets in 113 games at an average of 33.49 and an economy rate of under five runs per over.

Noteworthy are Ashwin's impressive World Cup numbers, with 17 scalps in ten games at an impressive average of 24.88 and an economy rate of 4.36 per over. It might have been his prior World Cup experience, being part of the title-winning side in 2011, and his outstanding numbers in the Mega Event that perhaps led to his selection to the ODI squad against Australia.

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Team India announce separate squads for the first two ODIs and the final ODI against Australia

Some of India's star players are rested for the first two ODIs against Australia.

Team India announced two separate squads for the upcoming ODI series against Australia in the build-up to the home World Cup, starting October 5.

KL Rahul has been named captain for the first two ODIs, with a few star players like Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Virat Kohli, and Kuldeep Yadav being rested.

Along with the surprising inclusion of Ruturaj Gaikwad, Tilak Varma, Prasidh Krishna, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Washington Sundar are also part of the 15-member squad for the opening two ODIs.

However, for the final ODI, the Men in Blue have gone with the same 15-member unit picked for the 2023 World Cup, with Ashwin and Sundar additionally included (due to Axar Patel's injury issues).

India squad for first two ODIs against Australia: KL Rahul (c & wk), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammad Shami, Tilak Varma, Prasidh Krishna, Ravichandran Ashwin, Washington Sundar.

India squad for 3rd ODI against Australia: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammad Shami, Hardik Pandya, Virat Kohli, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel (subject to fitness), Washington Sundar, Ravichandran Ashwin.