Ravichandran Ashwin has responded to the question regarding his limited-overs career and said that they are laughable as he is at peace with himself. India’s premium off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin opened up on talks regarding his return to India’s limited-overs squad, saying that questions on his white-ball cricket dreams are laughable because he is extremely happy with his present life.
Ravichandran Ashwin Want To Make Game-Breaking Performance If Given An Opportunity Anywhere
Ravichandran Ashwin last played a limited-overs game for India in July 2017, following which he and Ravindra Jadeja were overlooked for the shorter formats with wrist-spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Chahal replacing the finger-spinners. Ravindra Jadeja was able to make a comeback but Ravichandran Ashwin hasn’t.
Notably, India skipper Virat Kohli said that India can’t fit both Ravichandran Ashwin and Washington Sundar in the squad with both offering comparatively similar skills-sets,
“A lot of times people tell these lines on leadership forums that ‘you need to compete with yourself. But I have definitely found the balance and learned in life about how I must be competing with myself and be at complete peace when I am doing that.
“Because when some of these questions are asked about my ODI return, T20I return, white-ball dreams and all these things, I find those questions are really laughable because I am totally at peace and extremely happy with the life I am leading right now,” R Ashwin told India Today’s Consulting Editor Rajdeep Sardesai in an exclusive interview.
“That given an opportunity anywhere, I would make a game-breaking performance which I am almost certain about because of the space I find myself in. What questions people have to ask, what opinions people have, I am not worried about at all. As of now, every single game I play out there in the park, I want to leave a smile on my face and everybody else’s,” Ashwin said.
The ace Indian off-spinner has stood out with his all-round performances in the longest format of the game over the last couple of months, firstly in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and then in the 4 Tests against England. This has led to calls in certain quarters for his inclusion in the Indian white-ball setup as well.
Ravichandran Ashwin’s Last ODI And T20I Came In 2017
Ravichandran Ashwin has last featured in an ODI and T20I in 2017 in June-July against West Indies. He has 150 ODI scalps in 111 ODIs. Ravichandran Ashwin’s last international ODI game was on 30 June 2017 in the 3rd ODI at North Sound against the West Indies.
He conceded 29 runs in his 10 overs, taking three wickets in a match that India won by 93 runs and has not played for India in ODIs since. He has played 46 T20Is and taken 52 scalps, the last of which came in August 2016.
Ravichandran Ashwin is India’s premier spinner in Test cricket but the same cannot be said about his white-ball future with Team India. He won the Man of the Series award in the recently concluded Test series against England.
He performed both with the bat and the ball (32 wickets and 189 runs). Seeing his performance in red-ball cricket there were talks of his inclusion in India’s white-ball squads but according to him, it is a distant dream. Ravichandran Ashwin is enjoying some time off the field after India qualified for the World Test Championship final. He will be back in business when India resumes their practice sessions for the WTC final in June at Southampton.