Former opener Gautam Gambhir on Tuesday backed Ravichandran Ashwin’s return to the ODI squad ahead of the World Cup, saying a finger-spinner like him could be as effective as a wrist-spinner in English conditions.
Ashwin last played for India in coloured clothing in July 2017. Wrist-spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav have since then become frontline spinners for India in limited overs format.
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While Ravendra Jadeja has managed to make a comeback in the shorter formats, Ashwin has not.
“Both wrist-spinners (Kuldeep and Chahal) have done well in the last one year. But I still feel that Ashwin is somebody we should look at. I’ve always believed that a quality spinner is a quality spinner – irrespective of whether he is a wrist-spinner or a finger-spinner,” said Gambhir at a promotional event.
Commenting on opener Shikhar Dhawan, who was not amongst the runs in the ODI series against Australia, Gambhir said the southpaw should have played first-class cricket since he was not part of the Test series Down Under.
“I am a little disappointed because some of the guys should have played first-class cricket. Being away from Test cricket should have actually pushed them to play first-class cricket.