My Records In White-Ball Cricket Are Not Bad Like What Is Perceived To Be, Says R Ashwin
Mar 16, 2019 at 10:29 PM
A rest given to R Ashwin for the tour of Sri Lanka (limited-overs series) proved to be a game changer for him as in his absence, the spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal performed well and fixed their place in the team.
Since then, he is yet to be recalled into the limited-overs side and hasn’t played an ODI or T20I for more than one and a half year.
It’s almost certain that Ashwin does not have an easy road ahead and has, in fact, no chance of making it to the squad for World Cup 2019.
Still, he is the leader of the pack in spin department and holds the position in Tests despite missing matches in recent times due to injuries.
Commenting on his absence from India’s limited-overs format, Ashwin said that his record in white-ball format is not bad like what is perceived to be.
“I don’t know, it is a perception if you feel like that, that’s it. I am not looking at it like that because I am no slouch. In the white-ball format, my records are not bad like what is perceived to be,” he said.
Numbers do suggest that Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal have done the job well in the absence of Ashwin.
Although since the comeback of Ravindra Jadeja, Chahal has become an irregular member of the team due to former’s batting skills.
It has been clearly seen on occasions that Kuldeep and Chahal are more effective when they bowl in tandem.
Hence, these two players are confirmed to book a flight for the World Cup and will also be there in the playing XI.
India do need the third spinner for the tournament and Jadeja’s place is still not confirmed.
In this case, Ashwin can always make a comeback but he will have to perform extraordinarily in IPL 2019 to make a comeback in the side.
He hasn’t had best of record in white-ball cricket since being dropped from the squad.
The off-spinner will now play IPL for Kings XI Punjab, where he will also lead the team.
Last year under his guidance, KXIP kicked off the tournament well and were on verge of qualifying for the second round before they suffered a slump in form, that saw them being ruled out from the league stage itself.