'Kitne all-rounders chahiye?’: Ashwin blasts Gambhir and Co. over India’s selection after Perth ODI

Gautam Gambhir's selection strategy slammed by R Ashwin. (Photo: BCCI)

Former Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was not only shocked with disbelief but also furious, in a very harsh language, about the decision of dropping Kuldeep Yadav. The team management went with more all-rounders in the first ODI game against Australia in Perth which took place on Sunday. Ashwin wondered why, in India’s so-called obsession with all-rounders, a wicket-taker like Kuldeep who is very consistent, is not given the chance to bowl more frequently.

Ashwin explained his reasoning by saying that large boundaries at the Perth Stadium would have been like a dream for Kuldeep, turning him into a lethal bowler. However, India lost the match by seven wickets. Australia chased the target comfortably and thus took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series after rain interrupted the match, which shortened it to 26 overs per side.

Kuldeep was on the bench, Axar Patel and Washington Sundar, both spin-bowling all-rounders, were preferred to play. Moreover, Nitish Reddy, a pace-bowling all-rounder, was already in the team. Ashwin, therefore, advised the head coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Shubman Gill to divert just a little bit of their attention from the batting line to the bowling one instead of continuously banking on all-rounders to deepen the batting.

“I can understand why there are two spinners playing in the team, along with Nitish Reddy. They want that batting depth, because Axar and Washington can bat, but bowling ke upar bhi thoda dhayan dedo yaar (concentrate on bowling as well). In these big grounds, if Kuldeep can’t bowl with a lot of freedom, then where will he play? And there will be overspin, which will get him more bounce,” Ashwin said in a video on his YouTube channel.

By sarcastically referring to Gautam Gambhir’s selection strategy, Ashwin said the team to support its specialist batters and stop picking too many all-rounders. He went on to stress that India ought to put their best bowlers on the field, particularly, when they have a pace-bowling all-rounder like Nitish in the side already.

“See, I understand that they will talk about this batting depth, but if that is going to help you win games, then batters should be able to take the responsibility. If they are playing extra batters, then they are again shielding the batting line-up. I will always say, play your best bowlers. Don’t pick a player only because you want to extend your batting. Kitne all-rounders chaiye aapko (How many all-rounders do you want)? You already have three. Even after having Nitish in the side, if you can’t play your best bowlers, then I can’t get it at all,” he added.