The Board of Council for Cricket in India announced India’s squad for Asia Cup 2023 on August 21, 2023. With many criticisms made on surprising inclusions like Tilak Varma, and injured players KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer, Ashwin backs choices of selectors in Asia Cup squad.
Ashwin backs choices of selectors in India’s Asia Cup squad
India has announced its 17-member squad including Sanju Samson as a backup as KL Rahul has a niggle on his injury. KL Rahul will not be available for the first match against arch-rival Pakistan in the tournament.
The players like Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal were ignored. The leg-spinner has expressed his thoughts through posts on X (Twitter) saying that there will be sunshine after dark days.
Adding to that, he backed the choices of the selectors in the squad and also fired on those criticizing on some of the picks.
Sanju Samson’s place in the main squad was not a happy decision. There were many posts on social media pointing out the ODI average of Suryakumar and Samson supporting the argument on Samson’s place in the main squad.
On the other hand, Tilak Varma got his maiden call-up after the T20I series against West Indies has been criticized by Samson’s fans.
But Ashwin backed both Suryakumar and Tilak’s selection on the squad saying, “The selectors know what they are doing. In a huge country like India, when you select a squad, there will be some key players who will be missing the cut.”
“So, just because your favorite is not there in the squad, you should not degrade the others,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
Despite Tilak Varma did not shine in Ireland series, Ashwin is confident in the player and says he has a clear mind and needs support from team management.
“Tilak hasn’t scored much in this Ireland series so far. But he is showing unreal intent from the first ball. And this youngster is coming to bat with a clear mind. Since he is bringing some freshness into the squad, they have backed him for that backup slot. Similar to Surya,” Ashwin said.
He supported Suryakumar Yadav with his exceptional T20I figures making him an automatic choice. He adds that with that kind of impact from his T20I, he can fire up in the ODI format.
“He has that x-factor and that’s why the team is backing him to come good in the ODI format as well. We will go back in time to see how we have won World Cups. be it MS Dhoni or any other captain, they have backed their players to come good.”
“Of course, if you want to have a for and against debate for dropping or selecting a player, you can have a healthy debate. We all know how good a player Suryakumar Yadav has been. His impact, what a match-winner he has been, and he has been our go-to T20 player.”
He blames IPL warfare culture for this situation and said it will be not happen if Suryakumar Yadav and Virat Kohli were batting in the middle order.
“I think this is all IPL warfare. When you get into the World Cup, we should see all our players as representatives of India. Once IPL gets over, put a cloth, move on, and once the player plays for India, except that he played really well in the IPL.”
“Fans are engaging in war even after IPL. Let us say, SKY is batting alongside Virat Kohli in a crucial chase. Even if you are not a Mumbai Indians fan you will appreciate Suryakumar and will want him to take us home, right?” Ashwin said.
