Former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag has slammed spin-bowling all-rounder R Ashwin for his below-par performances in the ongoing 2024 edition of the Indian Premier League.
It has to be noted that R Ashwin has been struggling to pick wickets in the ongoing IPL 2024. He has managed to pick up just two wickets in the eight games he has played so far. Not just this, he has also leaked over nine runs per over. Despite his struggles with the ball, Ashwin recently claimed that picking up wickets in the T20 format is irrelevant.
Virender Sehwag Slammed R Ashwin For His Approach
Meanwhile, Ashwin’s statements didn’t go down well with Virender Sehwag, who slammed him for his thoughts. Sehwag disagreed with Ashwin’s way of bowling in T20 cricket, especially pointing out a comment by Ashwin where he echoed KL Rahul’s controversial statement about strike rates. Ashwin implied that getting wickets in T20 matches doesn’t matter much.
Sehwag strongly disagreed with this view, stressing that bowlers should aim to aggressively take wickets instead of just trying to prevent runs. He said:
“This is the same as when KL Rahul had said that the strike rate doesn’t matter. Same thing. He said it for batting, Ashwin has said it for bowling that it doesn’t matter if you get the wickets. If his stats aren’t good, then he may not even get picked in the auction next year. When you pick a bowler, do you expect him to give away 25-30 runs or do you expect him to give you wickets and become man of the match twice or thrice?”
Further, Slamming Ashwin for his mindset, Sehwag noted that his teammates uzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav, have been picking wickets at regular intervals. He said:
“All his competitors – Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav or anyone else – are getting the wickets. He thinks if he bowls off spin then anyone will hit him. Which is why he bowls his carrom bowl, which is why he is not getting any wickets. Maybe if he believes in his off spin or doosra, he can bag more wickets. But that’s his mindset. But if I were a mentor or a coach of a franchise, I wouldn’t think like that. If my bowler is thinking about saving runs and not taking wickets, he won’t find a place in the team,” he added.
