‘R Ashwin doesn’t deserve spot in white-ball cricket; need to get the best out of Hardik Pandya’- Yuvraj Singh

Yuvraj Singh talked about various topics during launch of Yuvraj Singh Centre of Excellence.

Former India cricketer Yuvraj Singh shared an interesting view about the Indian team’s future and stated that ace off-spinner R Ashwin should no longer be considered for white-ball cricket for the Indian team.

Ashwin has been a constant for India in Test cricket, but off lately, he featured in the T20 World Cup 2022 and the ICC World Cup 2023 squads as well, despite no consistent involvement in white-ball international cricket. He was selected because of his experience and his performance in the Indian Premier League.

However, Yuvraj Singh feels that since Ashwin doesn’t brings anything to the Indian team with his batting or fielding, India should look beyond him.

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“Ashwin is a great bowler but I don’t think he deserves a place in ODIs and T20s. He is very good with the ball, but what does he bring with the bat? Or as a fielder? In the Test team, yes, he should be there. But in white-ball cricket, I don’t think he deserves a place,” Yuvraj Singh told Times of India.

However, Yuvraj stated that India requires an all-rounder Hardik Pandya a lot, and given his injury proneness, should be handled carefully. He also spoke about the captaincy future of the Indian team in white-ball cricket.

“Hardik is a very important team member and India needs him. He is injury prone and we need to give him time to recuperate and settle down. We have to get the best out of him. As for captaincy, we need to have more options. There is Suryakumar Yadav, who has been captaining India in T20Is. There is Shubman Gill, who be captain in IPL,” Yuvraj said.

Notably, Hardik Pandya has been out of action since injuring his ankle during the ICC World Cup 2023.