I Don't See It Happening, Virat Kohli On Ravichandran Ashwin’s Comeback In T20Is

Indian captain Virat Kohli, in a virtual press conference, was asked if Ravichandran Ashwin can make a comeback into the T20I side. Kohli was attending the presser on the eve of the first T20I against England to be played on March 12 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

All five T20I matches will be played at the same venue on March 12, 14, 16, 18, and 20. India had won the four-match Test series 3-1 and qualified for the ICC Test Championship final and will face against New Zealand at Southampton on June 22-18.

Unless Washington Sundar Has A Horrendous Season, I Can’t See Ravichandran Ashwin Coming Into The Team: Virat Kohli

Ravichandran Ashwin last played a T20I against the West Indies in 2017 after which he was discarded owing to fitness and form issues. Ashwin has been consistent in the Indian Premier League (IPL), captaining Punjab Kings for two seasons, and had a great outing for Delhi Capitals in IPL 2020 in UAE.

He had 52 wickets in 46 T20I matches with a best of 4/8 and has 248 wickets in 247 T20 matches thus far. However, with the rise of Washington Sundar and Yuzvendra Chahal, and also Kuldeep Yadav, Ravi Ashwin’s stock has been limited to Test cricket only, in which he is the number 2 ranked bowler.

“Washington has been doing really well for us, so you can’t have two similar players in the side. Unless Washington has a horribly bad season, I don’t see it… you have to have some logic when asking the question, you tell me where would you fit in Ash,” Kohli said in the presser.

Washington Sundar has been the preferred choice of off-spinner thanks to his ability to bowl in the powerplays and also his better batting abilities. He is coming off a nice performance in the Test series where he had scored 85* and 96* in two of the Tests.

Virat Kohli’s India will be looking to find their stabilized squad for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup to be played in October-November later this year. England is the no.1 ranked T20I side in ICC rankings at the moment, while India recently moved to the number 2 spot.

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