Former India Chief Selector Wants Ravichandran Ashwin Back in The Limited-Overs Cricket

With India’s spinners being belted in the ongoing limited-overs series against England, former chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar has pitched for the return of veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin in the shorter formats of the game.

Dilip Vengsarkar said that he would have surely brought back off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin in white-ball cricket if he were currently the chief selector of the Indian cricket team.

In the second ODI between India and England, the visitors made a mockery of India’s 337-run target, gunning it down with six wickets and 39 balls to spare. India’s spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Krunal Pandya had an evening to forget, combining to leak 156 runs in 16 overs.

Dilip Vengsarkar, himself a former chief selector, told the Sunday Express that Ravichandran Ashwin’s maturity as a spinner merits his inclusion in the shorter formats.

“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 opined.

Ashwin had last played in limited-overs format in 2017. Even though he had been giving decent performances, he was axed, and youngsters were preferred.

Dilip Vengsarkar Didn’t Agree With Virat Kohli’s Statement

Dilip Vengsarkar, who picked Virat Kohli in the Indian team during his tenure as the chief selector, doesn’t agree with the captain’s statement. He has also made it crystal clear that there was no match between a young Washington Sundar and an experienced Ravichandran Ashwin.

“Washington Sundar is no match if you compare him with Ashwin purely as a bowler. Where is the comparison? Players of “the same discipline”, however, have featured in the Indian squad before the Ravindra Jadeja-Axar Patel combo was a case in point. So why not Washington and Ashwin? “Yeah, absolutely. In the ODIs, when the spinners bowl, their job is to get wickets in the middle overs,” Vengsarkar said.

“If they fail to get wickets, then the opposition can score a huge total, with wickets in hand. So basically, Ashwin’s job will be to get wickets and he is good at that. The variety he has, he would be a very good attacking option and very few can match his variety. As far as spinners are concerned, you don’t contain the batsmen (in this format), especially in the middle overs,” Vengsarkar added.”