Moeen Ali, the man who has replaced Buttler as vice-captain in his absence in the fourth Test, is different and completely unflustered at least with his body language.
Shastri admitted that getting out for 78 on the first day became decisive in the final context of the third Test but the series is still "wide open".
The 36-year-old pointed out that the Indian batting order has to click in unison while recollecting the memories from The Oval Test in 2007.
Mohammed Shami has bowled nearly 100 overs in the series while Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah have crossed the three-figure mark.
Ashwin, world's best off-spinner, has been benched for three consecutive Test matches with Ravindra Jadeja being played as a "batting all-rounder".
Ashwin's last outing at The Oval came in July while playing for Surrey in the County Championship.
Moeen's elevation comes after Jos Buttler was given a paternity break due to the impending arrival of his second child.
Prasidh Krishna was on Wednesday added to the Indian squad ahead of the fourth Test against England.
A number of former players have advocated for Ashwin's inclusion in the playing XI as he is yet to play in India's five-Test series.
With the series now levelled at 1-1 after the Leeds defeat, and with the objective to rest their fast bowlers, here are some of the selection questions for India ahead of the Oval tie
The 32-year-old India No. 4 batsman has aggregated 124 in the five innings of the first three Tests at an average of 24.8.
Trusting Ravindra Jadeja's batting ability more than Ashwin, India skipper Virat Kohli had ignored the ace offspinner for the first three Tests.
India and England will now lock horns in the fourth Test which begins on Thursday at The Oval in London.
Kohli has only 124 runs from five innings with just one half-century to his name and has now gone more than 50 innings without an international century.
England won the third Test at Headingley against India by an innings and 76 runs. The win also got the hosts to level the five-match series 1-1.
At the age of 39, Anderson has already bowled more number of overs in the first three Tests than any of the Indian seamers has bowled.
Kohli has scored 124 runs in just five innings at an average of 24.80. His highest score of the ongoing Test series was 55 in the second innings of the Headingley Test, which India lost by an innings and 76 runs.
Ishant's figures of 22-0-92-0 were worst among the Indian pacers as England scored 432 runs but more importantly, the veteran looked jaded.
Wood had hurt his right shoulder while fielding during the second Test at Lord's while Woakes has recovered from the heel injury
Vaughan feels senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin's inclusion in the playing XI can solve the problem.
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