Ravichandran Ashwin backed pace bowler Arshdeep Singh to be a part of Team India’s T20I XI ahead of the Asia Cup 2025 final as well. India will take on Pakistan in the title clash on Sunday, September 28, in Dubai as well.
“I’ll say this even with my glasses on! Even if you wake me up from deep sleep, my answer won’t change: Arshdeep must play. How many runs will the number 8 batsman make? Not too many, and you don’t need that many. And for the World Cup in six months work on Arshdeep’s batting, work on Varun Chakravarthy’s batting, Bumrah can already hit a bit, decent bat swing. The batting coach needs to give more time to these guys,” he said on his YouTube channel ‘Ash ki Baat’.
“Batting practice needs to be situational in T20, typically, an 8th batter might only get 4-6 balls if it is not a bad day. The goal is to maximize those balls, and Arshdeep has that long handle. But when the moment comes, say you need 15 in 10 balls, how to rotate strike, which bowler to target for boundaries? They need to talk about these things. It’s not just about net batting; it’s about practical planning against specific bowlers,” he shared.
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“Sometimes pointless practice is done, tailenders, or those batting lower down, never get realistic match-like bowling in nets. How will they set up a field? These kinds of practice details matter. If they train like this, even our bowlers can become like Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, or Kagiso Rabada with the bat,” Ravichandran Ashwin further added.
However, all-rounder Hardik Pandya left the field after bowling just one over against Sri Lanka on Friday, September 26 as well. He faced discomfort in his left thigh as well.
“The way Arshdeep bowled, he proved again why we keep saying on this channel that Arshdeep is needed. Once more, he proved it. So, in many ways, if Hardik doesn’t play, India will have to play Arshdeep. So, for India, Hardik is necessary, but this is one of those situations where it could also be good, because Arshdeep will get played and can again show why he’s that important bowler for India,” Ravichandran Ashwin concluded.
