Former Indian spinner, L Sivaramakrishnan said he believes in the skills of Ravichandran Ashwin, and given his experience & ability to bowl to left-handers, he should be considered for India’s white-ball squad again.
Sivaramakrishnan said if Ashwin has a good IPL 2021 in UAE, he should be considered in the India squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup.
Ashwin has been a crucial part of the India squad for Tests but has not been considered for the limited-overs squad since his last T20I against West Indies in July 2017.
“Yes, he is one of the outstanding bowlers we’ve had in the last few years. His experience will definitely help, he bowls very well to left-handers. He’s not a slouch on the field, he can field reasonably well and is a safe catcher.
He has worked hard on his fielding and fitness. He should be considered in my opinion. If there are a lot of left-handers in the opposition, you want your best off-spinner to be bowling to them. If Ashwin has a good IPL in UAE, he should be considered” Sivaramakrishnan said in a press conference for Sony Network.
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The former leg-spinner also spoke about the Indian chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav, who has been having trouble finding his way back into the India squad. The left-arm spinner has been out of form for a long time now, being in and out of the team.
“You have to identify your own mistakes and improve. A lot of people have said Kuldeep is slow through the air, that’s probably working on his mental aspect of the game. A bowler’s natural speed is different. Bowling slow can be an advantage. In IPL, Amit Mishra’s speed is below 80 and batsmen struggle. Each bowler has his own comfortable speed.
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Work needs to be done on Kuldeep, both technically and mentally. He is still very young, a rare kind of a bowler. He can come back and be very useful for India. It doesn’t help if your IPL team drops you. That’s where you build your confidence. If he works hard and has a good IPL, he can have a good chance of a comeback." Laxman S said about the chinaman.
He has been highly impressed with Mumbai Indians leg-spinner, Rahul Chahar, who recently had a decent outing against England in limited-overs cricket earlier this year.
“He is a really good bowler. I like his attitude; he wants to take wickets and be attacking. Has a slip in position, Rohit Sharma captains him beautifully. He was very good in the IPL before it was suspended. I’ve seen him bowl a lot on domestic cricket. He is quite a hardworking boy. I really like the look of Rahul Chahar. He will be successful." the former leg-spinner added.
India’s limited-overs squad will play against Sri Lanka in a three-match ODI and three-match T20I series starting from July 18.
(Sony Network inputs)
