India have sealed their spot for the semi-finals, however, legendary cricket Kapil Dev is worried because of Ravichandran Ashwin’s poor returns in the tournament so far. The World Cup-winning captain isn’t too impressed with Ashwin and feels that he lacks confidence in his abilities.
Notably, the Indian spinner made impressive returns of 3 for 22 in the last match against Zimbabwe.
“Until now, Ashwin hasn’t given me the confidence. He picked up wickets today but it didn’t look as if he got them. In fact, one or two wickets that Ashwin took in the match, he himself was embarrassed to claim those (as the ball had kept low).”
“We can certainly say that wickets bring confidence in a bowler but Ashwin hasn’t yet been in the rhythm one expects him to,” Kapil said.
It is worth mentioning that Ashwin has played all the matches for India so far in the 20-20 World Cup 2022. In 5 games, the Indian spinner has managed to pick 6 wickets. Ashwin went wicketless in the first game against Pakistan but then followed it with returns of 2 for 21 and 1 for 43 against the Netherlands and South Africa respectively.
In India’s fourth match against Bangladesh, Ashwin conceded 19 runs in 2 overs and went wicketless, once again. However, he made a good comeback in the last match against Zimbabwe, picking 3 wickets for 22 runs in 4 overs. With Yuzvendra Chahal warming the bench, fans and cricket experts have expressed their desire to drop Ashwin from the playing XI.
However, the team management has continued to back the veteran Indian spinner despite heavy criticism. India are slated to play the semi-final match against England on 10th November in Adelaide. It will be interesting to see if Ashwin retains his place in the playing XI or gets dropped.
Arshdeep Singh is the highest wicket-taker for India in the tournament, having managed to claim 10 wickets in 5 matches at an average of 14.10.
