Ravichandran Ashwin Must be Considered for 2019 World Cup, Feels Gautam Gambhir

Former Indian National Cricket team opener Gautam Gambhir has backed veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin to return to the ODI squad ahead of the ICC World Cup 2019 in England and Wales. Gambhir, meanwhile, feels a finger-spinner like him could be as effective as a wrist-spinner in English conditions.

However, the young spinning duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal have taken centre stage in the limited-overs cricket. Ravichandran Ashwin last represented India in white-ball cricket way back in 2017. While Ravindra Jadeja has managed to make a comeback in the shorter formats, Ashwin has not.

“Both wrist-spinners (Kuldeep and Chahal) have done well in the last one year. But I still feel that Ashwin is somebody we should look at. I’ve always believed that a quality spinner is a quality spinner irrespective of whether he is a wrist-spinner or a finger-spinner,” said Gambhir.

In addition to, Gautam Gambhir cited the example of Australia’s Nathan Lyon, who made an ODI comeback following his stellar show in the Tests.

“He (Lyon) is probably the best offspinner in the world and he’s a finger-spinner. I feel that we should not differentiate because there’s a wrist-spinner and so there’s no space for a finger-spinner.

“I think R Ashwin is someone who we should always consider because we are looking at conditions in England during that time of the year. Wickets could be flat and worn out. So a finger-spinner can be effective with the ball as well,” said Gambhir.

In conclusion, Gautam Gambhir cited that out of form batsmen should play first-class cricket to regain form.