India start their 2022 T20 World Cup campaign with a match against arch-rivals Pakistan on Sunday at the colossal Melbourne Cricket Ground. Captain Rohit Sharma had said earlier that he has already decided on the 11 players who will part of the team in the blockbuster clash and there is a good chance that veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin will be among those players.
This stands in stark contrast to the build up to the opening game against Pakistan in last year's T20 World Cup. Ashwin had been included in the squad but didn't play the match, or the next one against New Zealand. India lost both those games and when he did play in the third game, it was Ashwin's first T20I match, or indeed, his first limited overs match of any kind in international cricket, since July 2017. Even after making his comeback to the limited overs setup, there have been a number of instances when Ashwin had to warm the bench even in home matches.
While he does tend to get dropped in away Test matches whenever India decide to go with a pace-heavy attack and use a more reliable spin bowling all-rounder in Ravindra Jadeja, Ashwin is almost never dropped in home Tests and tends to be India's potent weapon. Sri Lanka spin great Muttiah Muralitharan has explained that this could be primarily because of the sheer number of options that India have in limited overs.
{{/usCountry}}While he does tend to get dropped in away Test matches whenever India decide to go with a pace-heavy attack and use a more reliable spin bowling all-rounder in Ravindra Jadeja, Ashwin is almost never dropped in home Tests and tends to be India's potent weapon. Sri Lanka spin great Muttiah Muralitharan has explained that this could be primarily because of the sheer number of options that India have in limited overs.
{{/usCountry}}"There are too many quality options in Indian cricket system. There is very stiff competition among the top Indian spinners in white ball cricket," Muralitharan told PTI in an interview organized by the Legends League Cricket (LLC).
“In red ball cricket, there isn't much competition as Ashwin is on top. He is peerless.The moment we turn to T20, because of IPL, we get to see too many talented options as there are so many matches being played. That certainly speaks about depth of Indian cricket. So when you get an option to compare his exploits with others and the opportunities to play T20Is get shared.”
Muralitharan, who with a whopping 800 wickets is the most successful Test bowler of all time, also said that he doesn't believe that finger-spinners like Ashwin are becoming redundant in limited overs.
"Spinners will always remain special bowlers in T20 cricket. All these T20 leagues won't be what they are if there were no quality spinners in each team. Finger spinners, if you mean off spinners, will never go out of fashion in T20 cricket."
A good leg-spinner needs a good captain in order to blossom but does the same hold true for an off-break bowler?
"I won't say a good off-spinner would always need a good captain. A captain has to think about all 11 players, including him, but primary requisite of an off spinner will always be talent."