As soon as the BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar and captain Rohit Sharma announced the India squad for the Asia Cup 2023 tournament on Monday, social media was filled with fans criticizing the 17-member squadron.
Fans on social media were busy degrading players whom they didn’t want to see in the squad, while some were playing the blame game and debating whether the team would be able to win the continental tournament which begins on August 30 and will be played in Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
R Ashwin, who was not picked in India’s Asia Cup 2023 squad, was irritated at such discussions and shared his thoughts on his YouTube channel. He also spoke about the selection of two players to highlight his point.
One among them is Tilak Varma, who is yet to play an ODI, while the other is Suryakumar Yadav, whose ODI form has been very bad, a fact accepted by the player himself.
"Tilak hasn't scored much in this Ireland series so far. But he is showing unreal intent from the first ball. And this youngster is coming to bat with a clear mind. Since he is bringing some freshness into the squad, they have backed him for that backup slot. Similar to Surya," Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
"He has that x-factor and that's why the team is backing him to come good in the ODI format as well. We will go back in time to see how we have won World Cups. be it MS Dhoni or any other captain, they have backed their players to come good.
Of course, if you want to have a for and against debate for dropping or selecting a player, you can have a healthy debate. We all know how good a player Suryakumar Yadav has been. His impact, what a match-winner he has been, and he has been our go-to T20 player,” he added.
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Furthermore, Ashwin blamed the IPL fandom and called it IPL warfare where fans on one franchise degrade players of other franchises if their favorite is not selected in the Indian team.
“I think this is all IPL warfare. When you get into the World Cup, we should see all our players as representatives of India. Once IPL gets over, put a cloth, move on, and once the player plays for India, accept that he played well in the IPL. Fans are engaging in war even after IPL," he said.
"Let us say, SKY is batting alongside Virat Kohli in a crucial chase. Even if you are not a Mumbai Indians fan you will appreciate Suryakumar and will want him to take us home, right?
The selectors know what they are doing. In a huge country like India, when you select a squad, there will be some key players who will be missing the cut. So, just because your favorite is not there in the squad, you should not degrade the others,” Ashwin added.
India will begin their Asia Cup 2023 tournament on September 2nd against Pakistan in Kandy, Sri Lanka, and then will clash with Nepal on September 4th, at the same venue.
(NDTV inputs)
