IND vs NZ | Keeping a class player like Ravichandran Ashwin out of the team doesn’t make sense, says Salman Butt
Former Pakistan skipper Salman Butt feels that keeping a class player like Ravichandran Ashwin out of the India’s playing XI doesn’t make sense to him. Ashwin made his comeback in T20Is during the recently concluded T20 World Cup in the UAE and Oman and played the first T20I against New Zealand.
Ashwin has picked in almost every game since making a comeback into the team. He didn’t play in the first two games of the showpiece event but played the remaining three. Against New Zealand, he picked two wickets in the 14th over removing well set Mark Chapman and applied the brakes on the opposition scoring rate. After watching his performance, Butt was surprised that the off-spinner hasn’t been included in the shortest format.
"To keep such a world-class player out of the team... it didn't make sense to me. When India were playing against England, I was surprised that Ashwin wasn't playing," Butt said on his official YouTube channel.
"When he was playing in the practice match against Australia, he bowled only two overs, and yet he took two wickets. And then, they didn't play him against Pakistan and New Zealand. When he eventually played, you saw the difference between him and the other bowlers," Butt added.
The former opening batsman further added that Ashwin showed a lot of maturity during the first T20I and should have played all the games in the T20 World Cup.
"In the 1st T20 against New Zealand, the maturity he showed is just another level. He is a complete bowler. I don't know what was the issue between Ashwin and the team management or the captain or the selectors… he should've played in every game of the T20 World Cup," the former opener further added.