“Could be a bit older…”: World Cup-winning captain’s interesting verdict on Ravichandran Ashwin | Cricket News

After successfully winning the Asia Cup, Team India's next task is the three-match ODIs against Australia starting from Friday. On Monday, captain Rohit Sharma and BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar announced the squad for the upcoming series. All-rounder Ravichandran has earned a surprise call-up as he will play his first ODI since January 2022. Ashwin, India's leading Test wicket-taker among active cricketers, has been named in place of an injured Axar Patel and will aim to make the most of the opportunity given.

The last date for submitting the final squad for the ODI World Cup 2023 on September 28 and Ashwin's place in the team for the main event are still uncertain. However, former Sri Lanka captain Arjun Ranatunga, who led the team to victory in the 1996 World Cup, said that Ashwin's inclusion in the team will strengthen India's spin attack and Kuldeep Yadav will be of great support in many matches.

“I don’t know if India have two proper spinners. They have good all-rounders who also happen to be spinners, but I can't see any real spinners in this team. On Indian pitches, they need a strong group of spinners.” If not, it would be a disadvantage for India. Of course there is Kuldeep Yadav, he can be a match-winner as he showed against Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup.” Ranatunga told Indian Express.

“From what I understand, he's pretty clever, especially when it comes to using the variations. But you still need someone to support him, who can contain him and attack him, because teams will try to target him and unsettle him. Especially when you're playing against England or Australia.” “, South Africa, New Zealand, sometimes you might have to play three spinners without affecting the balance of the team. And India doesn't have a batsman who can bowl. Jadeja, who bowls, bats at number 7,” he added.

Ranatunga further said that Team India needs to have a “balanced” all-round attack to be “firm favorites”.

“Take Pakistan and England, they have good spinners. So I'm sure India will look into this before the World Cup. They tend to focus more on the all-rounders like Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel, but personally I feel they do.” “I should have someone like R Ashwin in the squad, if not in the starting XI. If he plays, he can be a match-winner for you,” he said.

“He may be a little older, he may be a little slow in the field, but you need people in the subcontinent who can dominate and take wickets. Teams that want to win most games do so by taking wickets and “For that you need to have a balanced all-round attack. If someone like Anil Kumble is in this team then I will mark him as a clear favorite but he has a problem with his spinners,” he added.

The ODI series against Australia is the final dress rehearsal for hosts India before the 2023 Cricket World Cup, which begins on October 5.