Former India opener Virender Sehwag came down hard at veteran Rajasthan Royals off-spinner R. Ashwin for his inability to take wickets in the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Ashwin, who has featured in eight matches of the IPL 2024, has only scalped two wickets while his Indian spin-bowling compatriots like Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav have flourished at the same stage. On being asked what he thought of the India off-spinner’s comments on his YouTube channel that wicket-taking is irrelevant in T20s, Sehwag compared it with KL Rahul’s strike-rate comments.
“This is the same as when KL Rahul had said that the strike rate doesn’t matter. Same thing. He said it for batting, Ashwin has said it for bowling that it doesn’t matter if you get the wickets. If his stats aren’t good, then he may not even get picked in the auction next year. When you pick a bowler, do you expect him to give away 25-30 runs or do you expect him to give you wickets and become man of the match twice or thrice?” Sehwag told on Cricbuzz.
“All his competitors – Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav or anyone else – are getting the wickets. He thinks if he bowls off spin then anyone will hit him. Which is why he bowls his carrom bowl, which is why he is not getting any wickets. Maybe if he believes in his off spin or doosra, he can bag more wickets. But that’s his mindset. But if I were a mentor or a coach of a franchise, I wouldn’t think like that. If my bowler is thinking about saving runs and not taking wickets, he won’t find a place in the team,” Sehwag added.
Overall, Ashwin has featured in 205 matches in the lucrative tournament, scalping 173 wickets with the best bowling figures of 4/34. He has bowled at an average of 29.95 and holds an economy rate of 7.10.