India’s sensational and experienced bowler Ravi Ashwin has been receiving praises from all corners for his terrific bowling performances for Delhi Capitals. Last night, during Qualifier 2 against KKR, Ashwin picked back-to-back wickets and on a hat-trick in the penultimate delivery of the game, it felt like DC would pull off a memorable comeback.
He almost snatched the game out of Kolkata Knight Riders’ hands with his sensational death over bowling, however, KKR’s Rahul Tripathi had some other plans as he smashed a six off Ashwin to hand KKR victory.
Just like this dramatic climax, the who year has been quite dramatic for India’s experienced bowler Ravi Ashwin — from not getting a chance to feature in a single Test match against England to making it to India’s T20 World Cup 2021 squad.
Talking about Ashwin’s performances for Delhi Capitals, he looked in fine form but wasn’t as productive this year. In 13 games he played this year, he only bagged 7 wickets, raising questions among experts.
Among many, former Indian cricketer turned commentator Sanjay Manjrekar has made a bold statement against Ravi Ashwin. Sanjay Manjrekar doesn’t feel Ashwin has a place in T20 cricket, at least as far as he is concerned.
Speaking on ESPNCricinfo, Sanjay Manjrekar asserted that Ashwin as a T20 bowler doesn’t fit into his team. He said:
“We have spent far too much talking about Ashwin. Ashwin, the T20 bowler, is not a great force in any team. And if you want Ashwin to change, I don’t think that’s going to happen because he’s been like this for the last five-seven years. I can understand us dwelling on Ashwin in Test matches where he’s fantastic. Him not playing a single Test match in England was a travesty. But to spend so much time on Ashwin when it comes to IPL and T20 cricket,”
He added:
“I think he has shown us in the last five years that he’s bowled exactly the same and I would never have somebody like Ashwin in my team because if I got turning pitches, I would expect people like Varun Chakravarthy or Sunil Narine or [Yuzvendra] Chahal and how they do their job, they get you wickets,”
