Batting legend Sunil Gavaskar has criticized the Indian management's handling of Ravichandran Ashwin, accusing them of neglecting the veteran spinner in the veil of team balance in overseas Tests.
Gavaskar’s comment came days after Ashwin called time on his international cricket career with immediate effect. The off-spinner confirmed his retirement decision during a press conference at the Gabba after the third BGT Test ended in a draw.
Ashwin was not part of India's playing XI for the Gabba Test. He was also left out of the line-up for the series opener in Perth but played in the second Test at the Adelaide Oval, where he claimed one wicket and scored 29 runs across two innings.
During his illustrious international career, Ashwin played a total of 106 Tests, of which only 26 came in SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia) countries.
"Cricket being a batters’ game, the fact that he invariably won the Player of the Series award didn’t win him kudos among the batters' fraternity. Every time there was even a five percent excuse to leave him out of the eleven, it was grabbed avidly with the excuse of team balance," Gavaskar wrote in his column for Mid-Day.
The 75-year-old also questioned why the same standards were not applied to batters who struggled in overseas conditions.
“At home, there was no way he could be left out because the management knew that without him, they could not win the game. If the excuse was that the pitch and conditions wouldn’t suit the ICC number one-ranked bowler, how come the same excuse was not used for the batters even if they were not top-ranked by ICC, but who struggled in similar pitches and conditions?”
Ashwin finished his career as India’s second highest wicket-taker (537 scalps) in Test cricket, only behind Anil Kumble’s record tally of 619 dismissals. He bagged 11 Player-of-the-Series awards, the most by any cricketer in men’s Test history.
According to Gavaskar, Ashwin also had the qualities to lead the Indian team. "Ashwin would have made a fine captain for India, but he was denied even the honor of being the vice-captain. There was an opportunity to give him the belated honour even if it was for a token Test match and a limited-overs bilateral series, but that also was denied to him. That’s why it was so good to see Rohit Sharma ask him to lead the team out on his 100th Test match,” Gavaskar wrote.
Ashwin also represented his country in 116 ODIs and 65 T20Is, picking up 156 and 72 wickets respectively. He was part of India’s 2011 World Cup triumph and 2013 Champions Trophy title win.
