Yuvraj Singh Calls Out Ravichandran Ashwin For Being Ineffective In White Ball Cricket

Former Indian all-rounder Yuvraj Singh who played a pivotal role in the Men in Blues‘ inaugural T20 World Cup triumph in 2007 and the 2011 ODI WC glory, has lashed out at his former India teammate Ravichandran Ashwin for being ineffective as a batter, bowler, and fielder in the shorter formats – ODIs and T2oIs.

Yuvraj Singh has made these comments after Ashwin’s poor performance in the 1st of a 2-match Test series in South Africa last month and for his overall impact on the team. Yuvraj is known for his flamboyant attitude and for speaking everything up front.

He is someone who speaks what’s his mind and heart out and in Ashwin’s context too, the 42-year-old gave his blunt opinion. As we all know, cricket’s evolving nature is seeing teams asking their bowlers to develop their batting skills as well so that they can score 20-30 runs extra to what the batters can make. After all, it will only be helpful for the bowlers who have the onus of defending totals be it low or high.

Take Australian captain Pat Cummins for example. The right-arm fast bowler has been a crucial player for the Aussies not just for his bowling prowess but also for his solidity with the bat as well. He showed it in the IPL as well as in the Ashes and Cricket World Cup last year.

If it wasn’t for his reliability, Glenn Maxwell would not have been able to script a historic WC group stage win against Afghanistan in Mumbai where he scored an unbeaten 201 from a point of what looked like no return. Seeing Cummins, every National team wants to have a player like that and Yuvraj Singh feels that Ravi Ashwin is not the right one for it.

At one point it did look like he would fill that role with Ravindra Jadeja but with the passing years, his batting quality has degraded.

“R Ashwin Doesn’t Deserve To Be In The Team”, Claims Yuvraj Singh

Yuvraj Singh did not hold back his feelings on Ashwin, claiming that the Veteran is of no use in India’s white-ball setup. He further claimed that he deserves to be in the Test side but not in shorter formats, especially in T20 cricket.

“Ashwin is a great bowler but I don’t think he deserves a place in ODIs and T20s. He is very good with the ball, but what does he bring with the bat? Or as a fielder? In the Test team, yes, he should be there. But in white-ball cricket, I don’t think he deserves a place.” Yuvraj Singh said.

Meanwhile, Ravichandran Aswhin’s next assignment lies in the 5-match Test series against England here in Indian conditions where spinners are said to have a greater impact than pacers. If he registers 10 wickets in this series then he will also become only the 2nd Indian bowler to pick 500 Test wickets after the great Anil Kumble.