Former Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has questioned India’s decision to take five spinners to Dubai for ICC Champions Trophy. Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy and Washington Sundar comprise of the spin unit. Given the nature of the pitches in Dubai, Ashwin has cast aspersions on fielding a spin-heavy unit and the impact it could have on the team combination.
“5 spinners in Dubai?”
In a video on his YouTube channel, Ashwin said that he does not understand why India were taking 5 spinners to Dubai for Champions Trophy. He pointed out that Axar and Jadeja were sure-shot inclusions in the playing XI along with Kuldeep. Howver, he noted that in order for Varun to play, India must drop a pacer and depend on Hardik Pandya as their second pacer.
“What I don’t understand is the number of spinners we are taking to Dubai. Five spinners and we have made Yashasvi Jaiswal sit out. Yeah I understand that we take three or four spinners for a tour. But five spinners in Dubai? I don’t know. I think we are one spinner too many if not two,” Ashwin said.
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Further, Ashwin said that he was uncomfortable with the team for CT 2025. He further questioned the need for spinners in Dubai, pointing out that the ball wasn’t turning much there. He cited the recently concluded ILT20 tournament to back his argument on the surfaces in UAE.
“I don’t think there is any doubt that Kuldeep Yadav will walk into the team. So how will you make space for Varun. Is he bowling well? Of course. Either you bring in Varun and Kuldeep as a duo, which I feel would be good. But my question is, in Dubai, are you expecting the ball to turn? In the recently held ILTO, we saw that the ball was not turning that much in Dubai and teams were chasing 180-run totals with ease. I feel a bit uncomfortable with the team,” added Ashwin.
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