Former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir on Thursday (September 9) said he was very happy for R Ashwin after the experienced off-spinner was selected in the Team India squad for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2021 to be played in the UAE and Oman later this year.
Gambhir believes that the inclusion of Ashwin gives the Indian cricket team a completely new dimension to the side for the T20 World Cup 2021, saying the spinner is a quality cricketer and should have played much more white-ball cricket. He last played a T20I in July 2017 against West Indies.
Speaking during a special T20 World Cup squad episode on Follow The Blues show on Star Sports, Gambhir said on Thursday: “Very happy for Ashwin. Probably, he shouldn’t have been out of the white-ball cricket anyways, and now he’s back. You will have to give it to the selectors and they’ve bought him back. It just gives you a completely new dimension.”
The former batsman added, “He is someone, who can bowl with the new ball, he is someone who can bowl in the middle overs, he is someone who can bowl in the death as well - depending on the condition if he gets the game. For me, he is a quality cricketer, who should’ve played much more white-ball cricket, as compared to what he has played.”
The 39-year-old was also elated with Suryakumar Yadav’s selection for the T20 World Cup. He also explained how Yadav is better than Shreyas Iyer, who was named in the reserves.
Gambhir explained, “Surya is a completely different class, as compared to Shreyas Iyer. He is much more versatile; he is much more unorthodox as well. In T20 cricket, you need people that are unorthodox; you want people who can hit that ball in different areas, and that is what T20 cricket is all about.”
He can lap you, he can late cut you, he can hit you over extra cover; he`s got all the shots, especially at No.4, because sometimes No.4 is the most tricky position to bat in T20 cricket, probably the easiest is the top three, but No.4, because you might be in when you have lost two early wickets and you still want to continue the momentum. Sometimes you come into the middle when you have got what 130 for 2, and you have got to continue with the momentum.”
He signed off by saying, “So, Surya`s got both kind of change, which probably Shreyas Iyer doesn`t have. And again, you gotta be mindful that he is coming after a serious injury and you never know what kind of a form he would be in the second leg of IPL as well. So, they`ve gone with someone, who has done really well, since he has gone into international cricket.”
India will kick start their T20 World Cup 2021 campaign against Pakistan in Dubai on October 24.
(With IANS Inputs)
