Laxman Sivaramakrishnan Calls For Ravichandran Ashwin's Inclusion In The Indian Squad For The T20 World Cup

Former Indian leg-spinner Laxman Sivaramakrishnan has called for the inclusion of champion off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin in India’s squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup as the cricketer-turned commentator believes that the latter can be a valuable asset for Virat Kohli’s men in the UAE.

Ashwin has not represented Team India in white-ball cricket ever since he was dropped from the set-up for the wrist-spin bowling duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal back in 2017, but the Tamil Nadu cricketer has been a constant figure in the IPL.

Sivaramakrishnan believes that Ashwin still has a lot to offer to the Indian team in the white-ball formats and he could prove to be lethal if the opposition fields a considerable number of left-handers in their playing 11.

The former leg-spinner also added that Ashwin has worked a lot on his fitness and fielding in recent times and while he is a safe catcher, he isn’t exactly a ‘slouch’ on the field.

‘’Yes, he (Ravichandran Ashwin) is one of the outstanding bowlers we’ve had in the last few years. His experience will definitely help. He bowls very well to left-handers. He’s not a slouch on the field, he can field reasonably well and is a safe catcher. He has worked hard on his fielding and fitness. He should be considered in my opinion. If there are a lot of left-handers in the opposition, you want your best off-spinner to be bowling to them. If Ashwin has a good IPL in the UAE, he should be considered.” said Laxman Sivaramakrishnan in a press conference arranged by Sony ahead of the Sri Lanka-India series.

Ashwin’s recall to the Indian T20I set-up looks unlikely at the moment but things can change for the good for the master spin bowler if he goes on to have a good time in the second leg of IPL 2020 in the United Arab Emirates before the T20 World Cup.

‘Work needs to be done on Kuldeep’- Laxman Sivaramakrishnan 

Laxman Sivaramakrishnan also spoke about Kuldeep Yadav, stating that the ‘chinaman’ has lost his confidence and he would need a lot of support from the team management.

He added that Kuldeep needs to work on both the technical and mental side of things to make a comeback besides stating that Kuldeep’s cause hasn’t been helped by the fact that his IPL franchise KKR has continued to ignore him.

However, Sivaramakrishnan believes that with age on his side, Kuldeep can make a comeback and once again establish himself as one of India’s match-winners. He signed off by stating that the upcoming white-ball assignment in Sri Lanka is extremely crucial for Kuldeep Yadav as far as his participation in the T20 World Cup is concerned.

”Work needs to be done on Kuldeep, both technically and mentally. He is still very young, a rare kind of a bowler. He can come back and be very useful for India. It doesn’t help if your IPL team drops you. That’s where you build your confidence. If he works hard and has a good IPL, he can have a good chance of a comeback.” he added.

Also Read- Yuzvendra Chahal Is Stagnating; Chance For India To Look At Varun Chakravarthy In Sri Lanka: Laxman Sivaramakrishnan