Legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has made a strong yet controversial statement about the unfair treatment meted out to Ravichandran Ashwin in the Indian cricket team. Notably, Ashwin retired from international cricket on 18 December.
He highlighted how Ashwin, despite being one of the best bowlers in the world, faced constant criticism and was often left out of the playing XI, with excuses such as “team balance” being used to justify his exclusion.
Sunil Gavaskar criticizes the unfair treatment of Ravichandran Ashwin in Indian cricket
“Cricket being a batting game, the fact that he always won the man of the series award did not earn him fame among the batsmen fraternity. Every time there was a 5% excuse for excluding him from the eleven,” Sunil Gavaskar wrote in his column for Mid-Day. It was snatched away heavily under the pretext of team balance.
The legendary Indian batsman also pointed out that Ravichandran Ashwin was never left out of home matches because the Indian cricket team management knew they could not win without the off-spinner. Gavaskar also wondered why the same excuses were never applied to underperforming Indian batsmen, especially those who were not rated as highly as Ashwin.
The former Indian captain further stated: “At home, there was no way to rule him out because the management knew that without him, they would not be able to win the match. If the excuse was that the pitch and conditions would not suit the ICC number one ranked player, then how could the same not have been used.” Excuse the batsmen, even if they are not ranked first by the ICC, but have struggled on similar pitches and conditions in the Sena nations?
Sunil Gavaskar criticizes India's decision to deprive Ravichandran Ashwin of captaincy honour
Moreover, 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 played 287 ODIs for India and the legendary cricketer said that the iconic cricketer deserves the honor of captaining the team in his career.
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However, Sunil Gavaskar praised Indian skipper Rohit Sharma for showing the right leadership by allowing Ashwin to captain the team in his 100th Test match, describing the gesture as a well-deserved honor for one of India's best players and recognition of his exceptional run in the tournament. Highest level.
Ashwin would have been a good captain for India: Gavaskar
“Ashwin could have become a good captain for India, but he was denied even the honor of being vice-captain. There was an opportunity to give him this belated honor even if it was for a token Test match and a limited-overs bilateral series, but that too was rejected,” Gavaskar signed off by saying. That's why it was so good to see Rohit Sharma asked to captain the team in his 100th Test match.
Notably, Ashwin, who has over 750 wickets and 4,000 runs in international cricket to his name, has enjoyed captaincy stints in domestic cricket, including in the Indian Premier League, where he led the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the 2018 and 2019 seasons. He will next be seen in IPL 2025 for CSK.