Following India’s consecutive losses against arch-rivals Pakistan and dominant New Zealand in the T20 World Cup 2021, former Indian cricketer Dilip Vengsarkar has lashed out at the Indian team management for not including off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin in the playing XI. Mystery spinner, Varun Chakravarthy, who had an impressive Indian Premier League (IPL) season this year, was chosen ahead of Ashwin.
However, the Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) tweaker looked very ordinary in his first two games of the Super 12 stage. On the other hand, Ashwin looked impressive in the warm-up game against England, bagging two wickets on just eight runs.
Following the New Zealand drubbing, Vengsarkar has asked for an investigation on why Ashwin wasn’t picked despite being India’s best spinner across the three formats.
"Why is Ashwin being so dropped for so long? It is a matter of investigation. Across formats, he is your best spinner with more than 600 international wickets. He is your senior-most spinner and you don't pick him," Vengsarkar said while speaking to PTI.
"I fail to understand. He didn't play a single game in the England Test series also. Why do you pick him then? It is a mystery to me," the 65-year-old added.
Furthermore, after India's lacklustre performance, the former cricketer also slammed the players' body language.
"The team looked off coloured and players looked jaded. I don't know if it is the bio bubble fatigue or something else, I have not seen such body language in the players in a long time," Vengsarkar concluded.
Virat Kohli’s men still have an outside chance to make their place in the last four, provided they win their reaming three matches against Afghanistan, Scotland and Namibia. It, however, won’t guarantee India's qualification in the further stage as they still have to rely on the other team’s matches of Group 2.
