Former India opener Gautam Gambhir has slammed R Ashwin for not bowling off-spin and bowling other variations during yesterday’s IPL 2021 match between the Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad. He came to bowl in the second delivery of the ninth over when Marcus Stoinis went out due to an injury.
However, Ashwin failed to leave a mark and went wicketless in his 2.5 overs, including Rishabh Pant’s missed opportunity of Kane Williamson off his bowling. During a discussion on Star Sports, Gautam Gambhir questioned his tactics of not bowling off-spin as well.
He said: “He is currently the best off-spinner in the world but he didn’t bowl off-spin at all. It is necessary for him to first understand that he is an off-spinner. It was an ideal situation for him where the opposition was three or four down.”
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“There is no doubt that you have not played cricket for a long time, you didn’t play the four Tests and the match pressure is completely different, whichever format it might be, you should have bowled your traditional off-spin until you were hit for a six,” he continued.
Gautam Gambhir again shared that if R Ashwin would have bowled off-spin, it would have helped him get back his rhythm as well.
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He explained: “You should have bowled the Test match-type bowling and got back your rhythm and feel. Whether it is batting or bowling, everything is about the feel. We saw the knuckle ball at the start itself. The entire world knows that you have variation of all types, you can bowl the googly, leg-spin, knuckle ball but you are still an off-spinner.”
“You can get wickets with off-spin also. It is not necessary that it is T20 cricket or white ball, so you have to show your variations. He disappointed me a little from that point of view but I am sure that going forward he will bowl more off-spin because he is a world-class bowler,” Gautam Gambhir concluded.
