R Ashwin retired from international cricket in December 2024 and from IPL in 2025.
Legendary India spinner R Ashwin has been placed at the last spot by India pacer Arshdeep Singh after he was asked to rank the most skilful and talented bowlers from the country.
The left-arm pacer was asked to rank five bowlers, including Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal. Arshdeep put Bhuvneshwar Kumar at the top, while Ashwin found the last place.
“Bhuvi bhai is at the top because he is my personal favourite as well. I really like him, so I’m a little biased. I’ll rate all the fast bowlers first. At number two, I’d go with Shami bhai because, as you know, he can seam the ball on any wicket. His bowling is excellent, and he presents the seam perfectly,” Arshdeep Singh stated on Krishnank Atrey’s YouTube channel.
He selected Kuldeep at third, pointing out that the spinner has an uncommon skill set. Chahal, his Punjab Kings (PBKS) colleague, trailed him. Arshdeep stated that he will personally message Ashwin as he had been placed last by him.
“Third would be Kuldeep Yadav because he has a very rare skill set, a left-arm Chinaman. Then there’s Yuzi bhai, as we are teammates in the Punjab team, and his record is also excellent. He has taken so many wickets. I wouldn’t want to rate Ash bhai last, but there were no positions left, so he comes in at number five. He is great, but Ash bhai was also my first captain in the IPL, Punjab. Sorry, Ash bhai, I’ll personally message you,” Arshdeep added.
Arshdeep Singh was also asked to select an all-format India XI that included him in the starting lineup in the same conversation. The openers picked were Gautam Gambhir and Sachin Tendulkar; Rohit Sharma was positioned at No. 6.
Notably, renowned spinner Anil Kumble and captain Kapil Dev, who won the 1983 World Cup, were excluded by Arshdeep.
Here’s Arshdeep Singh’s all-format India XI:
Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh