Ravichandran Ashwin's absence from India's Asia Cup 2023 squad did not go down well with a few former cricketers. While most experts embraced the 17-member Indian side announced on Monday, there were some like Madan Lal and Karsan Ghavri, who had a few issues with the choices that the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee made. Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal's absence was their main concern. India decided to pick Kuldeep Yadav as their lone specialist spinner ignoring Ashwin and Chahal. India captain Rohit Sharma said Chahal missed out because of his shortcomings with the bat. India preferred to go with two left-arm spin-bowling all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel.
Former India pacer, Ghavri did not agree to it. He went to the extent of claiming that Ashwin does not get the treatment from the Indian team management he deserves. "What is Ashwin supposed to prove after taking 712 international wickets? He has not been treated well despite being a senior player," Ghavri told PTI.
Ashwin is currently India's leading wicket-taker among all active cricketers. Only Anil Kumble (953) has more wickets than the off-spinner in the list of all-time highest wicket-takers for India. The veteran cricketer, who is more than handy with the bat in hand, was a last-minute addition to India's T20 World Cup squad last year Ghavri, therefore, is not ruling out his chances for the ODI World Cup this year.
"Ashwin is a quality player and he should have been selected for the Asia Cup. He will be a key bowler in the ODI World Cup on Indian pitches," he said.
{{/usCountry}}"Ashwin is a quality player and he should have been selected for the Asia Cup. He will be a key bowler in the ODI World Cup on Indian pitches," he said.
{{/usCountry}}India's 1983 World Cup-winning all-rounder, Madan Lal said both Chahal and Ashwin should have been a part of India's Asia Cup squad. "Australia have played Kuldeep Yadav very well. Yuzvendra Chahal should have got a chance. He is a match-winning bowler," Lal said
Lal, in fact, reminded that India did not pick Ashwin in the WTC final against Australia and it cost them."Ashwin is someone who has taken 500-600 wickets... he knows how to take wickets. We did not play him in the WTC final, the team management knows better," added the 1983 World Cup winner.
‘Yashasvi Jaiswal should’ve been picked over Tilak Varma'
Lal questioned the fitness of the players such as KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer, who are coming back from long injury layoffs.
"More or less it is the same team which we were all thinking about. The only concern is their fitness because both the Asia Cup and the World Cup are big events and level of fitness is very important," he said.
"If you are not fit physically then you are not mentally fit either — injuries always worry you. Hope the selectors have taken care of that."
Ghavri said India should have picked Yashasvi Jaiswal instead of Tilak Varma.
"Yashasvi did very well in the West Indies. He's in good form and given the way he has been performing, he should have been in the Asia Cup team. He has a bright future with Team India," he said.
"Everybody is rating Varma very highly, but where is the performance? I hope he does well," he added.
Varma was rewarded for his strong performances on the tour of the West Indies with a spot in the squad for the upcoming tournament.
The young batter is in line to make his ODI debut, having made waves in the domestic circuit.