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Ashwin finds questions on return to limited-overs cricket ‘laughable’

The off-spinner was not named for the ongoing T20I series against England

PTI02_24_2021_000189B R. Ashwin celebrates the dismissal of England's J. Leach | PTI

India cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin is at “complete peace” and happy with the way things are going for him now that he finds questions on his return to limited overs cricket “really laughable”.

“A lot of times people tell these lines on leadership forums that ‘you need to compete with yourself’. But I have definitely found the balance and learned in life about how I must be competing with myself and be at complete peace when I am doing that,” Ashwin told a media channel.

“Because when some of these questions are asked about my ODI return, T20I return, white-ball dreams, and all these things, I find those questions are really laughable because I am totally at peace and extremely happy with the life I am leading right now,” he added.

The off-spinner’s outstanding performance in the Test series against Australia and recently against England at home had many thinking that he would be part of the limited-overs squad. And why not? The 34-year-old picked up 12 wickets in three matches Down Under and was the leading wicket-taker in the series among spinners.

In the series against England, which India won 3-1 to qualify for the World Test Championship Test final, Ashwin claimed 32 wickets, the most by any player in the series. He also hit his fifth Test hundred in the second Test match in Chennai.

However, he was not named for the ongoing T20I series against England.

But Ashwin, whose last appearance in white-ball cricket for India was in July 2017 in a T20I against West Indies, said he is not worried about people’s concerns over his exclusion from the white-ball cricket squad.

“What questions people have to ask, what opinions people have, I am not worried about at all. As of now, every single game I play out there in the park, I want to leave a smile on my face and everybody else’s,” he said.

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