Former India opener Virender Sehwag has questioned veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin’s form in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. Ashwin has struggled to pick wickets in the IPL 2024, taking only two in eight matches and giving away more than nine runs per over.

Despite his troubles, Ashwin has said that gaining wickets in the T20s is irrelevant. In response to Ashwin’s remark, Sehwag criticised him and said that he might go unsold at the auction next season.

“This is the same as when KL Rahul had said that the strike rate doesn’t matter. Same thing. He said it for batting, Ashwin has said it for bowling that it doesn’t matter if you get the wickets. If his stats aren’t good, then he may not even get picked in the auction next year. When you pick a bowler, do you expect him to give away 25-30 runs or do you expect him to give you wickets and become man of the match twice or thrice?” Sehwag said on Cricbuzz.

“All his competitors – Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav or anyone else – are getting the wickets. He thinks if he bowls off spin then anyone will hit him. Which is why he bowls his carrom bowl, which is why he is not getting any wickets. Maybe if he believes in his off spin or doosra, he can bag more wickets. But that’s his mindset. But if I were a mentor or a coach of a franchise, I wouldn’t think like that. If my bowler is thinking about saving runs and not taking wickets, he won’t find a place in the team,” he concluded.