Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is not entirely aligned with the prospect of the IPL 2026 emerging talents being added straight into the T20I setup as well. Team India have a title-winning team on their hands who recently won the T20 World Cup 2026, for a record third time in history.

“What is the value of the India cap then? What respect will it have? You need a moment of pride to wear the India cap. Why are you playing cricket? Because you are representing so many Indian public, they are watching, everyone praises our cricket, and you wish to debut in front of your fans. All of this definitely plays on the mind. It happens a lot now that people are making their debuts somewhere or the other, and people forget about it,” R Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

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“There must be a value for the India cap. If you want to give them exposure, send them on India A tours. You cannot just dish out India caps just like that. Telecast the India A tours as well, people will watch and have fun. But you cannot just distribute India caps for free. It has to be valued,” he further added.

However, many of the top uncapped stars in the IPL 2026 could soon be seen in a national team as well, after the BCCI have made a shortlist for the two-match T20I series against Ireland as well.

“The selectors were asked by the BCCI logistics department to give at least 35 names whose Irish visa needed to be kept sorted. Since the Indian team’s first port of entry will be Ireland and not England, the UK visa won’t work. Everyone requires a separate Irish visa,” a BCCI source was quoted as saying by PTI.