‘WC winner ko pata hai kya zarurat hai’ – Fans react as former WC winner claims Yuzvendra Chahal should replace Axar Patel if latter is ruled out

Indian captain Rohit Sharma said that Ravichandran Ashwin may make a spectacular white-ball comeback shortly after Indian all-rounder Axar Patel suffered an injury prior to the Asia Cup final match against Sri Lanka. Indian all-rounder Ashwin secured his ODI comeback for the Australia series the day after Rohit and company were named the Asia Cup Champions in Colombo.

“They are going to make another mistake to rectify their earlier mistake” : Harbhajan Singh

Legendary bowler Harbhajan Singh has criticised selectors for adding reinforcements in the shape of bowlers Ashwin as well as Washington Sundar in response to India’s ODI team announcement. He said, “First Washington Sundar, who wasn’t in the original Asia Cup squad, was called there. After that, a second player has been added for this series and that is R Ashwin. So somewhere or the other Team India are searching for off-spinners. They have probably realized their mistake that they haven’t picked an off-spinner in the team and that our bowlers can get into trouble if a lot of left-handers come in front of them. Why unnecessarily go through all this? It is beyond my understanding or they are going to make another mistake to rectify their earlier mistake.” 

In January 2022, veteran all-rounder Ashwin made his final ODI appearance for India. The current 15-man squad for the ODI World Cup does not contain an off-spinner at all. At the Asia Cup, India also played without an off-spinner. The Indian think tank also made the decision to rest Kuldeep, vice-captain Hardik Pandya, former captain Virat Kohli, and captain Rohit for the first two games of the Australia series.

The 2011 World Cup winner added, “You will never pick three spinners in the team. You will choose two at the most. Ravindra Jadeja is definitely going to play, no matter how many left-handers are there in front of you. And the other spinner will be Kuldeep Yadav. No one can take his place as of now.”

Here’s how fans reacted: