R Ashwin picked up 7 wickets in 13 matches of the Indian Premier League 2021.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) defeated Delhi Capitals (DC) by 3 wickets in Qualifier 2 to get into the IPL 2021 final. It was a last-over thriller and KKR needed 6 runs off the last two deliveries when Rahul Tripathi hit the winning runs off R Ashwin.
Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar on Thursday (October 14) said that Ashwin doesn't look like a wicket-taking bowler after the outing in Qualifier 2. The off-spinner picked up two wickets in the match and both the dismissals came in the final over.
"We have seen Ashwin in T20 cricket in the past five years. When he plays T20 cricket, he plays as a finger spinner who relies on carrom balls. When he played for Chennai, he was brilliant. But against Kolkata, he looked ineffective on the wicket and did not seem as a wicket-taking bowler," Manjrekar told India TV.
"Delhi needed wickets but Ashwin was just thinking of not conceding runs. Axar, on the other hand, was looking out for wickets. Ashwin was in his own bubble during Kolkata's run-chase. The second Qualifier between DC and KKR frustrated me a lot. Both teams have some dead weight and even Chennai has such players.
"A spinner's job is to take wickets and break a set partnership. Ashwin and Jadeja were dropped from the side after India's Champions Trophy defeat to Pakistan as the two were happy with conceding 40-50 runs in their 10 overs. Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav's emergence in white-ball cricket led to the fall of Ashwin-Jadeja duo," he further said.
Team India made a change in the T20 World Cup squad and they have replaced Akshar Patel with Shardul Thakur. Thakur was earlier named in the list of reserve players.
Speaking on Akshar's performance against KKR, Manjrekar said, "Akshar shouldn't think that he has been sidelined because of his performance. He was left out because the UAE wickets will perhaps aid medium pacers and Ravindra Jadeja will leave their mark in the tournament."
(With India TV Inputs)