Sphiwe Masilela
Indian cricketer, Ravichandran Ashwin’s dream to play in the Twenty20 World Cup on home soil later this year may remain just that – a dream.
Skipper Virat Kohli said there was no spot for the record-breaking spinner in the Indian squad who are currently playing a five-match T20 series against England because Washington Sundar had already been performing well for the team in the same role.
“Washington has been doing really well for us,” said Kohli.
“You can’t have two players playing in one spot unless Washington has a drastically horrible season.”
Sundar made his test debut against Australia this year and impressed with the bat during the England series with unbeaten scores of 85 and 96.
But Ashwin took 13 wickets from 15 games in last year’s Indian Premier League, dismissing the likes of Kohli and Chris Gayle.
Through his spinning prowess he also helped India to a 3-1 triumph in the recent test series against England.
He hit a century in India’s second test victory at Chennai and took his 400th test wicket in the third Ahmedabad test, the fastest to that landmark by any Indian bowler in terms of matches.
Only three other Indian bowlers have taken more wickets than Ashwin in test cricket, all of whom have retired.
India is due to host the T20 World Cup between October and November.
Picture source: @Ashwinravi99
