Ravichandran Ashwin is India’s premier spinner in Test cricket but the same cannot be said about his white-ball future with Team India. Ashwin won the Man of the Series award in the recently concluded Test series against England. He performed both with the bat and the ball. Seeing his performance in red-ball cricket there were talks of his inclusion in India’s white-ball squads but as per the man himself, it is a distant dream. Ashwin has been out of India’s limited-overs squads since July 2017.
Meanwhile, former Indian selector Dilip Vengsarkar has backed his return in the limited-overs format for India. His opinion comes after the Indian spinners were below par in the T20I and now the ODI series against England. Kuldeep Yadav especially has lost his confidence and seems to have lost his skills as well.
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In the second ODI against Englan in Pune, Virat Kohli-led India were clueless as their frontline spinners failed to contain the English batsmen and their six-hitting abilities took the game completely out of India’s hand, with the hosts defending a mammoth 337. As a result, the match ended with more than six overs to spare in England’s favour.
Seeing the Indian spinners going for runs and not being able take wickets, former Indian selector Dilip Vengsarkar has voiced for Ashwin’s return into the limited-overs side.
I Would Have Brought Back Ravichandran Ashwin: Dilip Vengsarkar
“If I were the chief selector (now), I would have brought Ashwin back (to the white ball set-up). Why not? Because he is such an experienced bowler and he has variety. As they say, spinners mature late and he has done so well over the years. He is in terrific form in red-ball cricket. I think it will suit the team if he is brought back,” Vengsarkar told The Sunday Express.
Earlier, Kohli had ruled out chances of Ashwin’s return in the limited-overs setup and told the media ahead of the T20Is vs England, “Washington has been doing really well for us. So you cannot have two players of the same discipline, playing in one spot. So unless Washy has a drastically horrible season and things go south for him (this will not happen).”
India are without the likes of Mohammed Shami, Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah in the ODI series. Vengsarkar has backed Ashwin to take wickets in the middle overs which is where the current lot of Indian spinners has let their team down.