Indian skipper Virat Kohli believes that off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has revived his white-ball career in recent years, which led to his inclusion in the forthcoming T20 World Cup 2021 in the UAE and Oman.
Ravichandran Ashwin made a surprise entry in the Indian squad named for the T20 World Cup 2021 by the selectors. His last appearance in a T20I came back in July 2017 against West Indies. Since then, he hasn’t featured in a single white-ball game for the national side.
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However, Virat Kohli feels Ashwin has brought courage in his bowling which was on display in the last few IPL seasons.
“Yes, definitely. The one thing Ashwin has improved on is his bowling with courage. You have seen in the IPL over the last two years that he has bowled the difficult overs against the biggest hitters. He has not been shy to put the ball in the right areas, Ashwin has believed in his skillset. And we felt the way he was bowling with variations, he is a guy who has played a lot of international cricket,” said Kohli during a Captain’s Call organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC) ahead of the upcoming Men’s T20 World Cup.
“So, hence Ashwin has been rewarded for reviving his white-ball skills altogether. He was a regular feature for us back in the day but he fell off, finger spinners with accuracy have come back into the game. So, we also need to evolve as a team,” he added.
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India will kick off their campaign on October 24 against arch-rivals Pakistan in Dubai. Kohli believes this will be like another game to Team India.
“I can talk from personal experience. I have always approached this game like any other game. I know there is a lot of hype created around this game, more so with ticket sales and the demands of tickets. Right now, the value of those tickets are ridiculously high.
“Apart from that, I do not think we make anything extra out of this game. For us, it is just about a game of cricket that has to be played in the right way. From the fans of point of view, it is definitely louder. But from players point of view, we stay professional and approach it in the normal way manner,” he added.
