R Ashwin has taken only 21 wickets from six Tests in Australia so far
Ravichandran Ashwin is currently India's most experienced spinner and No.7 in the ICC Test rankings for bowlers and has 336 wickets to his name in Test cricket. But, his recent form has been anything but good and calls have been made to play Ravindra Jadeja or Kuldeep Yadav over him.
He was benched for the last Test versus England at The Oval. He was nursing an injury and that played a part in the decision surely but his recent form and Jadeja adding a bit more overall, made it a tempting option to go with the southpaw. Also, one couldn't discard the fact that Kuldeep Yadav likes bowling on pitches that offer bounce and he did exceedingly well in the recently concluded T20I series.
Ashwin has always done well at home, where he has had the pitch to aid him but whenever he has had to manufacture something from his own, he has failed to replicate the success. In his last 10 Tests outside the sub-continent, he has only picked up 35 wickets, which also include four Tests against West Indies in 2016 on slow, low tracks. If it is narrowed down further to 2018, he has grabbed 18 scalps from six games in South Africa and England.
If we come Down Under, it gets worse. Ashwin averages a whopping 55 in Australia compared to his career average of 25.44. The 32-year-old has so far taken 21 wickets from six games against the Aussies in their backyard.
The last time he toured Australia, he took 12 wickets from three games and was not that effective against David Warner and Chris Rogers, who had scored freely against the off-spinner.
But despite all that, Kumble feels that the off-spinner should be India's first choice going into the Adealide Test on Thursday.
"Ashwin, I think there's no two ways to that. I mean Ashwin brings in the experience, he's an off-spinner, there are many left-handers. Even to the right-handers, you have Mitchell Starc coming in over the stumps. So, there will be foot marks and that's something that you can utilise on Day 2, Day 3 and even Day 4.
"Especially in places like Adelaide where generally the surface is very hard and very firm in the portion where the batsmen want the ball to be. So, slightly away from that and that's exactly why Nathan Lyon has been exceptionally good bowling in Australia. He gets the bounce and he also line to the right-hander which is slightly outside the off stump, where he uses the left-arm fast bowlers' foot marks. That's something I'm sure Ashwin will do, so if it's only one spinner, he would be my choice.
"Yeah, it is difficult but I think you need to start off with Ashwin since they have so many left-handers and also the option of Ashwin bowling to the left-handers and we know how good he is at that. So, I think it's all important to make sure that you give the confidence to your main bowlers," the 48-year-old told cricketnext when asked about who should be India's No.1 spinner Down Under.
Kuldeep Yadav had a forgetful outing in the last Test match he played abroad at Lord's 
He also weighed in on the debate of playing Kuldeep ahead of Ashwin and Jadeja. According to Kumble, playing Kuldeep is a big temptation because of what he brings into the fray but the chinaman bowler should be a No.2 to either Jadeja or Ashwin and not the sole player.
"It's a tempting thing that you'd want. Would you want to throw in Kuldeep, yes, if you're playing five bowlers, two spinners then Kuldeep would be your second choice. Adelaide, depending on the pitch, depending on side because the side-boundaries are short and I'm sure Aussie batsmen will look to take Kuldeep on to the side boundaries rather than straight.
"So that's something that you'd want to think off. But if you're playing Kuldeep then you have to have another spinners at the other end. I wouldn't play Kuldeep as a sole spinner. I would rather go with Kuldeep with a back-up of either a Jadeja or an Ashwin backing up at the other end," Kumble explained.
The whole issue of if playing a second spinner is at all possible or not arises because of the absence of Hardik Pandya. Pandya picked up a back injury during the Asia Cup earlier this year in UAE and still isn't match fit.
The 25-year-old all-rounder is recovering and is expected to make a comeback for the three ODIs that follow the Test series and Kumble feels that Pandya's absence is a big blow to India.
"That's a big blow, if you had Hardik Pandya in the team, then he gives you the cushion of being the fifth bowler, gives you 10-15 overs, possibly a couple of wickets. So that's the advantage of a Hardik Pandya. He can bat at seven and give you runs as well, so that's the disadvantage that India is going with," Kumble said
