Former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar said that Ravichandran Ashwin may finally take the field in the Champions Trophy, against Sri Lanka at the Oval on Thursday. In his column for the Times of India, Gavaskar wrote that the off-spinner could prove handy against Lanka’s left-handed batsmen and will motivated to leave a mark in the tournament. The Lankans played three left-handed batsmen in their loss to South Africa.
“India may just make a change and bring in Ashwin to counter the left-hand batsmen in the Lankan team,” Gavaskar wrote. Ashwin did not play in India’s clash against Pakistan, in which Virat Kohli’s men registered a comfortable victory. All-rounder Hardik Pandya was picked ahead of Ashwin, with India going with four fast bowlers and one spinner in Ravindra Jadeja, who can be handy with the bat.
However, Gavaskar said that Pandya’s selection was justified after he smashed three towering sixes in the final over to take India’s total to 319. He also chipped in two wickets in India’s sensational 124-run win.
“While all the experienced players did the job asked of them what was impressive was the way Hardik Pandya batted,” Gavaskar wrote. “Here is a player full of confidence, like his skipper, and just like his skipper, he is now letting his cricket do the talking. His selection ahead of Ashwin did raise a few eyebrows but he justified it with both bat and ball, and it won’t be a surprise if Kohli uses him as the finisher ahead of MS Dhoni.”
Kohli had said in his press conference on the eve of the Sri Lanka game that Ashwin has taken his being on th bench in the right spirit. “Ashwin is a top-class bowler,” Kohli said. “Everyone knows that. And he is very professional as well. He understands the dynamics of the side that was picked in the last game and he was absolutely fine with it. He told me, ‘I support you [in] whatever you want to do.’ That’s always been our equation.”
