Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin revived his international career after his brilliant performance in the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2020-21. The cunning off-spinner had a great battle with the Australian star batsman Steve Smith as he hunted him down on 3 occasions in the series. Courtesy of his excellent performance, he even made a return to the limited-overs side as he was picked for the 20-20 world cup in 2021.
According to a report by Cricbuzz, Ashwin is set to make another comeback to the T20I team during the upcoming series against the West Indies in August. He last played a T20I against New Zealand at Ranchi right after the 20-20 world cup.
He also played in the three-match ODI series against South Africa early this year after which he was dropped from the limited-overs side.
Ashwin was dropped from the limited-overs side after India lost to Pakistan in the final of the Champions Trophy in 2017. The duo of Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja was replaced by Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal as the two new mystery wrist spinners bamboozled the opposition batsmen with their variations.
With time, the magic of ‘Kul-cha’ also faded as the duo became ineffective in international cricket leaking runs in the middle overs. Since then, India are desperately looking for a spin-duo to settle in the eleven. Hence, they’ve called Ashwin back in the side once again.
Wrist spinner Chahal looks in good form after his successful run in the recent Indian T20 league which earned him the coveted ‘Purple Cap’ for being the highest wicket-taker in the tournament. The other spinners whom India are giving opportunities are Ravi Bishnoi and Axar Patel. It will be interesting to see how Ashwin grabs his second chance in two years in the limited-overs side. The spinner will be eager to make strong statements through his performance as the 20-20 world cup is just 4 months away.
India will play a five-match T20I series against West Indies in August, the squad for the series is yet to be announced.
