Ravichandran Ashwin Has Won A Lottery Here - Reetinder Sodhi

Former Indian all-rounder Reetinder Sodhi believes the off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has had a lucky break by being named in India’s ODI squad for the ODIs against South Africa. With Rohit Sharma missing out due to a hamstring injury, KL Rahul will be leading the team and Jasprit Bumrah has been named as his deputy.

The BCCI have named a strong 18-man squad of which Ravichandran Ashwin is a part. The off-spinner wasn’t in the scheme of things in white-ball cricket until last year where impressive performances in the IPL earned him a call-up to the T20 World Cup squad. Ashwin was impressive in the tournament too and that has helped him get an ODI call-up after a gap of almost four years.

“R Ashwin has won a lottery here. It felt his career was almost over, that he might announce his retirement; he has got a new lifeline. He is a performer; he has experience on his side,” Reetinder Sodhi told India News.

Team management, selectors have shown faith in experience: Reetinder Sodhi

The selection of Ravichandran Ashwin over other spinners shows that the selectors, as well as the team management, have backed experience to do the job for them. Reetinder Sodhi believes that the South African tour is a tough one and thus this experience will come in handy.

“Rahul Dravid, the team management and the selectors have shown faith in experience. It is right as well because this tour is not that easy,”

India squad for South Africa ODIs: KL Rahul (Capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Ruturaj Gaekwad, Virat Kohli, Surya Kumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Y Chahal, R Ashwin, W Sundar, J Bumrah (VC), Bhuvneshwar Kumar,Deepak Chahar, Prasidh Krishna, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Siraj

Also Read: Ravi Shastri Recalls How He Planned Jasprit Bumrah’s Test Debut In South Africa