India's off-spinner R Ashwin recently made a comeback to limited-overs cricket and featured in the T20 World Cup 2021. He wasn't an active white-ball cricketer for India since 2017, but the selectors showed faith in him for the mega ICC tournament.
The offie was picked over the likes of Yuzvendra Chahal in the World Cup squad. He went on to play three matches in the tournament and bagged six wickets, before featuring in the T20I series against New Zealand at home.
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Former India captain and current BCCI President Sourav Ganguly, in a chat with renowned journalist Boria Majumdar, revealed that Virat Kohli, who led India in the T20 World Cup 2021, was interested to include Ashwin in the squad.
“I wasn’t sure whether he would be part of the white-ball team again. But then Virat Kohli wanted him to be part of the World Cup. And, whatever little bit of opportunity he got, I thought he was superb,” Ganguly said.
“Everybody speaks about him. Look at Rahul Dravid’s statement after the (Kanpur) Test match - he called him an all-time great. You don’t need rocket science to judge Ashwin’s talent. My appreciation just comes from what I see. It may be Ashwin, it may be (Shreyas) Iyer, it may be Rohit (Sharma), it may be Virat (Kohli),” he added.
Ganguly praised Ashwin, who recently surpassed Harbhajan Singh to become India's third-highest wicket-taker in Tests, and said that the off-spinner has contributed to India's big victories.
“Look at the number of winning teams he has been a part of. 2011 World Cup, he was part of the winning team for India. 2013, when he won the Champions Trophy, he was a leading bowler in that tournament. When CSK won IPLs, he was the main bowler for them, bowling in the powerplay and difficult situations.
“Look at his Test record, it is phenomenal. It does not need me to say Ravichandran Ashwin is exceptional. His record and his performances show it. And you can’t ignore such players. You cannot just turn your eyes and say that he’s gone. I am not surprised with what he is doing,” Ganguly concluded.
