Three reasons why R Ashwin completely deserves a chance in T20 World Cup
Ravichandran Ashwin made his comeback to the Indian T20I squad for the T20 World Cup 2021 after four years. While all Indian fans were bummed not to see him during India’s England tour, they were overjoyed with his comeback. Given his experience, skills and temperament, team India arguably has got back their best spinner in the white-ball game. Here are three reasons why Ashwin deserved a chance in this big event:
Variations and experience
Ravichandran Ashwin is a seasoned campaigner and has been a part of the IPL for over a decade and has also been in the Indian setup before. He has a fantastic record in T20Is, having picked up 52 scalps in his 46 appearances. On top of that, he has variations like the carrom ball and leg-break, which can be handy in deceiving batsmen in certain situations. The variations which he has developed over the years, playing this format makes him a great choice.
2017: I wrote this quote down a million times in my diary before putting this up on the wall! Quotes that we read and admire have more power when we internalise them and apply in life.
Happiness and gratitude are the only 2 words that define me now.🙏 #t20worldcup2021 pic.twitter.com/O0L3y6OBLl
— Mask up and take your vaccine🙏🙏🇮🇳 (@ashwinravi99) September 8, 2021
Record in the IPL 2021 in UAE
There is absolutely no doubt that the selectors might have looked at his record in the last season when the tournament was played in the UAE. He ended with 13 wickets in 15 games with an economy rate of 7.66. In the season before that, he had picked up 15 wickets in 14 matches. His records in the shortest format have been good despite him being out of the T20I team for four years. He has worked hard and his game has been of world-class quality.
Style of bowling and effectiveness in match-ups
Now, this is a bit important to note. India has been blessed with a lot of good spinners, but at this moment Ashwin and Washington Sundar (who has been ruled out due to an injury) are the only right-arm off-spinners within the Indian team. Mainly, it is handy to have an off-spinner as a lot of T20 teams have left-handed players in the top order and their style of bowling becomes a threat.
Right-arm off-spinners can turn the ball away from the left-handers, making it difficult for them to hit. This is essentially why a lot of teams use bowlers like Ashwin and Sundar in the powerplay or at least like having them in their mix. Make no mistake, Ashwin with everything he offers is a gun bowler against right-handed batsmen as well, but against the left-handed, he seemingly has an advantage and his record is too good to be ignored.
