Legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has delivered a strong yet controversial statement on Ravichandran Ashwin’s unfair treatment in the Indian cricket team. Notably, Ashwin retired from international cricket on December 18.
He highlighted how Ashwin, despite being one of the top bowlers in the world, faced constant criticism and was often left out of the playing XI, with excuses like “team balance” being used to justify his exclusion.
Sunil Gavaskar slams unfair treatment of Ravichandran Ashwin in Indian Cricket
Sunil Gavaskar wrote in his column for Mid-Day: “Cricket being a batter’s game, the fact that he invariably won the Player of the Series award didn’t win him kudos among the batter’s fraternity. Every time there was even a five percent excuse to leave him out of the eleven, it was grabbed avidly with the excuse of team balance.”
The legendary Indian batter has also pointed out how Ravichandran Ashwin was never dropped for the home matches because the Indian cricket team management knew that they couldn’t win without the off-spinner. Gavaskar also questioned why the same excuses were never applied to underperforming Indian batters, especially those not ranked as highly as Ashwin.
The former Indian captain further mentioned, “At home, there was no way he could be left out because the management knew that without him, they could not win the game. If the excuse was that the pitch and conditions wouldn’t suit the ICC number one ranked bowler, how come the same excuse was not used for the batters, even if they were not top-ranked by the ICC, but who struggled in similar pitches and conditions in the SENA countries?”
Sunil Gavaskar slams India’s decision to deny Ravichandran Ashwin the captaincy honor
Furthermore, Sunil Gavaskar criticized the decision to deny Ravichandran Ashwin the honor of being captain or vice-captain of the Indian cricket team despite his immense contribution to the team. Ashwin has played 287 international matches for India, and the legendary cricketer said that the iconic off-spinner deserved the honor to lead the side in his career.
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However, Sunil Gavaskar praised the Indian captain Rohit Sharma for showing the right leadership by allowing Ashwin to lead the team in his 100th Test match, calling this gesture a well-deserved honor for one of India’s finest players and acknowledgment of his exceptional career at the highest level.
Ashwin would have made a fine captain for India: Gavaskar
Gavaskar signed off by saying, “Ashwin would have made a fine captain for India, but he was denied even the honor of being the vice-captain. There was an opportunity to give him the belated honor even if it was for a token Test match and a limited-overs bilateral series, but that also was denied to him. That’s why it was so good to see Rohit Sharma ask him to lead the team out on his 100th Test match.”
Notably, Ashwin, who has over 750 wickets and 4000 runs in international cricket to his name, enjoyed the captaincy stints in domestic cricket, including in the IPL, where he led Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the 2018 and 2019 seasons. He will be next seen in action in the IPL 2025 for CSK.