Former India batter Yuvraj Singh has advocated against Ravichandran Ashwin’s inclusion in Team India in white ball formats. Yuvraj has questioned Ashwin’s ineffectiveness with the bat and on the field and said he does not deserve a place in India’s white ball teams.
Ashwin, 37, has had a rollercoaster ride in his limited-overs career. He lost his place in the national side in 2017 to Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal and making sporadic appearances in one or two T20I series since then. He made his last appearance for India in the World Cup in 2023 as a late replacement for Axar Patel but surprisingly played only one match, taking 1/34 against Australia in Chennai.
The Indian team has made it very clear that it is more important for the lower-order to have more batters who can bowl, and Ashwin, who has scored five centuries in Test matches, does not deserve to be in the ODI and T20I teams as Yuvrai has accused him of not contributing enough to the game in terms of batting and fielding.
“Ashwin is a great bowler but I don’t think he deserves a place in ODIs and T20s. He is very good with the ball, but what does he bring with the bat? Or as a fielder? In the Test team, yes, he should be there. But in white-ball cricket, I don’t think he deserves a place,” Yuvraj, a two-time World Cup winner, told Times of India.
