Aakash Chopra says “If you wanted R Ashwin’s experience desperately played with him” in T20 World Cup 2021. Chopra feels India should have played Ravichandran Ashwin. If the logic behind picking him in the T20 World Cup squad. It was to utilize his experience. The former Indian batter questioned the think tank’s decision to bench the off-spinner. After selecting him for white-ball cricket out of nowhere. Since 2017, Ashwin has not played a limited-overs match for India. He was a surprise selection in the 15-member T20 World Cup squad. However, India preferred to play Varun Chakravarthy against Pakistan and New Zealand. He went wicketless in both games.
And then responding to a fan query on his YouTube channel. Chopra agreed that Ashwin should have been part of the XI. Once he was picked and there was no point in selecting him.
“Ravichandran Ashwin should definitely have been picked in the XI. He was selected in the squad in the first place because of his experience. What is the point of having experience on the bench? Even if the team had picked a 15-year-old and had kept him on the bench, it really wouldn’t have mattered. Experience can be utilized only if the player is part of the team and the playing XI. If you wanted R Ashwin’s experience so desperately, for sure you should have played him in the XI. There was no point in selecting him otherwise,” Aakash Chopra said.
Ravichandran Ashwin
“He has not been part of the ODI or T20I set up for the last four years and India had done well without him. India did not miss Ashwin in the white-ball formats. But, out of the blue, they selected him (for the T20 World Cup). If they took a gamble, they should have given it a chance to work. It was pointless picking him out of nowhere and then not playing him in the XI. Surely question marks will be raised about his selection now,” Chopra said.
In addition, during the long season of the game, R Ashwin is India’s top spin bowler. During the England tour, he did not play a single Test match. Some have questioned Ashwin’s selection from the playing XI, including Dilip Vengsarkar. It’s for the T20 World Cup 2021’s opening two matches.
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