Former Australia captain Aaron Finch feels veteran India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin will not make it to India’s 2023 World Cup squad despite playing the two ODIs of the ongoing three-match series against Australia as well. However, Ashwin replaced an injured Axar Patel in India’s playing 11 as well and registered a spell of 3/41 in the second match as well.

“I think he (Ashwin) might struggle to make it to the final 15, but as somebody who has played so much cricket, I think the rest of the group that is with the Indian team for this current series against Australia, they could learn so much about big game play,” Finch said on Star Sports. “Because Ashwin is somebody that stands up in big games, whether it’s a test match or a T20 game, he has done it all throughout his career. So I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s there at the moment as a mentor around the group, but I don’t see him making that last 15, unfortunately.”

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However, Aaron Finch felt that although the wickets at the later stage of the marquee event might suit Ravichandran Ashwin, India wouldn’t want to think about that now as well. Meanwhile, recent reports have also suggested that Patel is likely to recover in time for the ICC ODI World Cup 2023. Moreover, he also picked four pacers, one each from New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and India as his key bowlers to watch out for as well.

“I think Trent Bolt, Mitchell Starc, and (Kagiso) Rabada, these guys, especially (Mohammed) Siraj, he’s as good as anyone in the world at the moment,” he said.