I would never have R Ashwin in my T20 team – Sanjay Manjrekar

Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has stated that he would never have a bowler like Ravi Ashwin in his T20 team. The former player further added that he would rather have Sunil Narine or Varun Chakravarthy in his squad. Manjrekar comments came after the veteran spinner failed to defend seven runs off the last over against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Qualifier 2 of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Ashwin took the wickets of Shakib-al-Hasan and Sunil Narine off the consecutive balls but de delivered a half-tracker wide outside the off stump to Rahul Tripathi, which the KKR player dispatched for a six to seal the game in his team’s favour.

“We have spent far too much talking about Ashwin. Ashwin, the T20 bowler, is not a great force in any team. And if you want Ashwin to change, I don’t think that’s going to happen because he’s been like this for the last five-seven years. I can understand us dwelling on Ashwin in Test matches where he’s fantastic.

“Him not playing a single Test match in England was a travesty. But to spend so much time on Ashwin when it comes to IPL and T20 cricket,” Manjrekar said to ESPN Cricinfo.

According to Manjrekar, Ashwin has bowled the same way in last five years.

“I think he has shown us in the last five years that he’s bowled exactly the same and I would never have somebody like Ashwin in my team because if I got turning pitches, I would expect people like Varun Chakravarthy or Sunil Narine or [Yuzvendra] Chahal and how they do their job, they get you wickets,” Manjrekar added

Sanjay Manjrekar concluded by saying that franchises might not be interested in having Ashwin in the team due to his lack of ability to pick wickets. “Ashwin has not been a wicket-taker in T20 cricket for long and I don’t think a franchise wants Ashwin in the team just to keep the runs down,” the 56-year-old said.