Would never pick Ravichandran Ashwin in my T20 team, says Sanjay Manjrekar
Ravichandran Ashwin could manage only seven wickets from 13 matches in IPL 2021
|| Courtesy - Twitter
After Delhi Capitals suffered a three-wicket defeat against Kolkata Knight Riders on Wednesday in Sharjah, Sanjay Manjrekar has stated that he would never include Ravichandran Ashwin in his T20 team. Ashwin had a disappointing season in IPL 2021, as he scalped only seven wickets from 13 matches.
The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) registered a three-wicket victory against Delhi Capitals (DC) Qualifier 2 on Wednesday in Sharjah. Ravichandran Aswhin, who had to defend seven runs off the final over, swung the game in favor of DC by scalping two successive wickets of Shakib Al Hasan and Sunil Narine. But, Rahul Tripathy stole the show by smashing Ashwin over long-off to finish the game, and sealed the KKR’s spot in the IPL 2021 final against Chennai Super Kings on Friday, September 15.
Meanwhile, reflecting on the DC spinner's recent performances in T20 cricket, Sanjay Manjrekar stated that he would never have someone like Ashwin in his team. He further added that the 35-year-old is a fantastic Test bowler, but he is not a great force in T20 cricket anymore.
"We've spent far too much talking about Ashwin. Ashwin, the T20 bowler, is not a great force in any team. If you want Ashwin to change, I don't think that is going to happen. He has been like this for the last five-seven years. I can understand we dwelling on Ashwin in Test matches where he's fantastic. Him not playing a single Test match in England was a travesty," Manjrekar said on ESPNCricinfo.
"But to spend so much time on Ashwin when it comes to IPL and T20 cricket, 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've got turning pitches, I expect people like Varun Chakravarthy or Sunil Narine or (Yuzvendra) Chahal and how they do their job, they get you wickets," Manjrekar added.
Speaking on Ashwin’s chances in the mega auction, Manjrekar stated that the offspinner has failed to impress as a wicket-taking bowler in T20 cricket, and no franchise will buy a spin bowler just to keep the runs down.
"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," he concluded.
