T20 Cricket is not Ravichandran Ashwin’s cup of tea, remarks Danish Kaneria
Danish Kaneria has stated that Ravichandran Ashwin is not suited to T20 cricket and so he shouldn’t have played in the World Cup for India. He further stated that it was an appropriate move from Virat Kohli to reserve Ashwin for the longer format while he was the skipper of the Indian team.
India were bowed out of the T20 World Cup 2022 with an embarrassing 10-wicket defeat against England in the semi final on Thursday. Hardik Pandya’s batting in the first innings helped India reach a competitive target but the failure of the bowlers to pick a single wicket made the chase pretty easy for England. Rohit Sharma and Co. were blasted for the dismal performance in the knockout game and one of the reasons was the spinners not performing up to the mark.
Lead spinner Ravichandran Ashwin picked six wickets from six matches with an economy of 8.15 which was the second-highest amongst Indian bowlers. Axar Patel managed to take just three wickets from five matches and was most expensive with an economy of 8.62. Former Pakistan cricketer Danish Kaneria has also expressed his views after India’s loss saying that Ashwin shouldn’t have featured in the tournament.
"Ravichandran Ashwin didn't deserve to play in this T20 World Cup. He cannot do well in Australian conditions. He should only play Test cricket. Virat Kohli did the right thing when he was the captain, reserving Ashwin only for the longer format. T20 cricket is not his cup of tea. Being an off-spinner, he can't bowl off-spin," Kaneria was quoted as saying on his YouTube channel.
India’s batting in the powerplay was also an issue for them throughout the tournament. The team will now lock horns with New Zealand next week and will look to correct their flaws.