Ashwin not being part of white-ball cricket is unfortunate given he's close to 400 Test wickets, opines Gautam GambhirĀ
Ashwin has been on fire in the ongoing Test series against England
|Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir has asserted that it's unfortunate that Ravichandran Ashwin isn't part of India's limited-overs scheme of things despite being close to 400 Test wickets. Ashish Nehra was also full of praise for Ashwin as he reckoned that he's a great student of the game.
Ravichandran Ashwin was India's premier spinner across all formats of the game till the 2017 Champions Trophy. But post the ICC tournament defeat, both Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were no longer persisted in the side with India going for the wrist-spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal. However, with time and the dwindling form of the wristies, Ravindra Jadeja made it back to the limited-overs side for India.
In fact, in the last series against Australia, he showcased his ability to be an able finisher that when combined with his economical bowling, makes him a decent white-ball option.Ā But the same can't be said about Ravichandran Ashwin. He hasn't been able to force his way back to the shorter formats despite shining in the IPL. And this is one thing that Gautam Gambhir finds very 'unfortunate' given his top-notch Test skills.Ā
"Someone who is coming close to taking 400 wickets and the same time getting five Test hundreds and still not being part of the white-ball scheme of things is very unfortunate. He is just a class act. He is just a quality bowler and his subtle variations. The amount of cricket he has played and the longevity he has played with and still the kind of impact he has had, it is just unbelievable," Gambhir said on Star Sports' Cricket Connected chat show, reported HT.Ā
Ashwin is the leading wicket-taker in the ongoing Test series against England and in the last Test, he went on to take eight wickets and also make a hundred with the bat to help India level the series and was even adjudged Man of the Match for his incredible all-round show. Former Indian pacer Ashish Nehra feels that he's a big impact player at home and is a good student of the game that helps him do well at the top-level.Ā
"This is not the first time that Ravichandran Ashwin has made such a big impact when you are playing at home. When you talk about how he is so different, first thing of course he has so much experience and so much confidence when you are playing at home, when he knows these wickets are going to be helpful to him," Nehra said.
"He is a good student of the game. We have always seen that he wants to learn. There were some fitness problems with him. We heard coach Ravi Shastri say that he is working hard on his fitness, so he can bowl long spells and he enjoys bowling long spells," he signed off.
