Less than a month ago, precisely after the second India-England Test in Chennai, Ravichandran Ashwin had expressed his desire to play T20Is for India again, saying that for him, playing the T20 World Cup is a “very realistic” hope and “not a dream”. But India captain Virat Kohli is not exactly interested in recalling Ashwin to the T20I fold at the moment.
Ahead of Friday’s T20I against England in Ahmedabad, the first game of the five-match series, Kohli was asked during a virtual media conference if Ashwin had any chance of making a comeback into the Indian T20I team. The question, however, did not amuse the skipper.
“Washington (Sundar) has been doing really well for us, so you cannot have two players of the same type playing in one team. Unless Washy has a drastically horrible season and things go south for him, he should play… You see the question has to come with some kind of logic as well, you suggest where would we add Ash in the team when somebody like Washington already does that job in the team? It’s easy to ask the question, but you should have a logical explanation to that,” Kohli said.
Ashwin last played a T20I for India in 2017. Washington, who too is an offie like Ashwin, is currently preferred by the Indian team management, mostly because of his economical bowling. The 21-year-old Washington has an economy of 6.95 in the 26 T20Is he has played so far. In IPL 2020, Washington had fared even better with an economy of 5.96 from 15 matches for the Kohli-captained Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Interestingly, Ashwin’s economy rate in T20Is — 6.97 from 46 games — is not far off Washington’s figures. He proved costlier in IPL 2020 though, where his economy was 7.66 from the same number of matches as Washington. But Ashwin got more wickets — 13 — than Washington (8).
Kohli also clarified that Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul are India’s first choice openers in T20Is. “KL and Rohit have been consistently performing at the top of the order, so those two would start. In a situation where Rohit takes rest or KL has a niggle, Shikhar (Dhawan) comes in as the third opener.”
With some fresh faces, like Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan and Rahul Tewatia in the squad, Kohli hopes his team play a better brand of cricket. “If you look at the additions we have made, we have tried to address a few things. Guys who can be X-factors with the bat.
“The idea is to not play to a set pattern… We want to be a side that plays free cricket. This time around you will see guys playing more freely, more expressive in terms of approaching the innings even after we have lost couple of wickets.”
Kohli also denied the notion that hosts India are the favourites for the T20 World Cup later this year. “I actually think it is England who will be the team to beat. They are the No.1 side in the world and the prime focus will be on them.”
