Expressing his disappointment with Ravichandran Ashwin's T20 bowling skills, former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar said he would've chosen bowlers likes Sunil Narine or Varun Chakravarthy instead.
“I think he has shown us in the last five years that he’s bowled exactly the same and I would never have somebody like Ashwin in my team because if I got turning pitches, I would expect people like Varun Chakravarthy or Sunil Narine or [Yuzvendra] Chahal and how they do their job, they get you wickets,” Manjrekar told ESPN Cricinfo.
The comment came after Ashwin failed to defend seven runs off the last over against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the second qualifier of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Ravi Ashwin fired 27 runs and picked up two wickets with 23 balls against KKR.
“We have spent far too much talking about Ashwin. Ashwin, the T20 bowler, is not a great force in any team. And if you want Ashwin to change, I don’t think that’s going to happen because he’s been like this for the last five-seven years. I can understand us dwelling on Ashwin in Test matches where he’s fantastic.
“Him not playing a single Test match in England was a travesty. But to spend so much time on Ashwin when it comes to IPL and T20 cricket,” Manjrekar said.
Manjrekar also said that franchises might drop Ashwin from the team. “Ashwin has not been a wicket-taker in T20 cricket for long and I don’t think a franchise wants Ashwin in the team just to keep the runs down,” said Manjrekar.
