Former India player Akash Chopra believes that spinner Ravichandran Ashwin can’t be depended on as a wicket-taking choice in the shortest format as the bowler might fail sometimes while Chopra said that the off-spinner will assume the part of a cautious bowler flawlessly.
Former India player Akash Chopra believes that spinner Ravichandran Ashwin can’t be depended on as a wicket-taking choice in the shortest format as the bowler might fail sometimes.
While praising Ashwin for his performance post the T20 World Cup 2021, Chopra said that the off-spinner will assume the part of a cautious bowler flawlessly but was skeptical about his performances when the side would require wickets from him.
Ashwin made a return to the T20I format following eight months and has since taken three wickets in as many games.
After the T20 World Cup 2021, Ashwin has played five matches and took six wickets, while IPL 2022 saw him guaranteeing 12 wickets from 17 games.
He got a T20I call-up for India’s five-match T20I series against West Indies and was later added to India’s Asia Cup squad. The mega event begins on August 27 in the United Arab Emirates.
“Ravichandran Ashwin – he was suddenly an out-of-the-box selection at the last World Cup as well. Here also just before the World Cup he went to the West Indies and is now in the Asia Cup squad, will play the World Cup again, that’s what it seems,”
said Chopra on his YouTube channel.
“If you are giving him a defensive role, he will do it to perfection. But if you are expecting wickets from him, be prepared that it might not happen. What role you define for him, is very important to me. I think it’s not about who is good or who is bad but the point is what sort of a spinner you need,”
added Chopra.
Earlier, the Asian Cricket Council announced a schedule for the upcoming Asia Cup, beginning on August 27. The tournament will be arranged by Sri Lanka in the UAE after the mega event was moved out of Sri Lanka due to the ongoing economic crisis in the country.
India and Pakistan will play the tournament clash on August 28 in Dubai. The opening game of the tournament will be played between Sri Lanka and Afghanistan.
India: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Deepak Hooda, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan.
Standby: Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, Deepak Chahar.