Rohit Sharma was appointed India’s all-format captain last year after Virat Kohli relinquished the T20I and Test captaincy and was sacked as ODI skipper.
While Rohit replaced Virat as captain, India have seen as many as five other players leading the side across formats. Due to Rohit’s unavailability, the likes of KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya and Shikhar Dhawan have stood in as skippers in the last 18 months.
Surprisingly, Ravichandran Ashwin’s name never came up for discussion for the leadership although the ace off-spinner is widely regarded as one of the shrewd cricket brains.
In an interview with The Indian Express, Ashwin opened up on the reason why he has been denied the India captaincy role.
The 36-year-old talked about him being marketed as an "overthinker" by world cricket while also adding that had he been given the assurance of getting a consistent run in the playing XI, he wouldn't have been overthinking.
"A lot of people marketed me and positioned me that I am an overthinker. A person who will get 15-20 matches on the go doesn’t have to be mentally overthinking. A person who knows that they will get only two games will be traumatised and will be overthinking because it’s my job. It’s my journey. So this is what suits me. If somebody is going to tell me, ‘you’re going to play 15 matches, you will be looked after, you will be this, you are responsible for players, you are in the leadership role, I won’t be overthinking. Why would I?" Ashwin stated.
"It’s unfair to actually say somebody’s an overthinker because that person’s journey is his own. And nobody has a right or business to do that."
When asked whether the tag of overthinker has worked against him, Ashwin claimed that it was a ploy to deny him the leadership role.
"It was created to work against me, right? And as I said, there have been statements that people have made all along when leadership question has come my way, there have been people who are been out there telling, my name is not the first name of the sheet when India tour abroad.
Whether that name is first on the sheet or not is something I can’t control. If I earned it, it’s got to be there and that’s my belief. As I said, I have no complaints, I have no time to sit back and throw punches or regret or anything. I have no regrets about anyone," he said.
It is pertinent to mention here that Ashwin, who occupies the numero uno spot in the ICC Test bowling rankings, was left out of India’s playing XI for the WTC final against Australia at The Oval last week.
Considering the overcast conditions and green-tinged pitch, India fielded four pacers and a spinner in Ravindra Jadeja.
The decision to drop Ashwin triggered an outrage in and the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar also criticized the move.
