India, Dec. 1 -- Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin minced no words as he questioned the exclusion of Nitish Kumar Reddy from the playing XI for the first ODI against South Africa in Ranchi on Sunday. The opening match of the three-game series saw the hosts registering a 17-run win after Virat Kohli's 135-run knock and Kuldeep Yadav's four wickets. The team management opted to go in with Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja ahead of Reddy, which led Ashwin to question the squad picked for the series.

Ashwin, who is India's second-highest wicket-taker in international cricket after Anil Kumble, said Reddy should be a starter, especially when Hardik Pandya is not available. He stated that if Hardik's absence is not good enough for N...