T20 World Cup call up a ‘Consolation Cup’ for R Ashwin to make up for the disappointment of being benched in England: Sunil Gavaskar

Ravichandran Ashwin has had a roller-coaster ride in the last one month or so. First, he was benched in all of the four Test matches against England and it became one of the biggest talking points of the series. But then he was picked in the ICC T20 World Cup Squad and that too many people by surprise.

The last time Ashwin featured in T20Is for India was four years back in 2017. The  T20I against West Indies in Jamaica was the last match he played. Fans are quite excited to see him back in the white-ball squad again but former India batsman Sunil Gavaskar is doubtful about Ashwin’s chances of getting a place in the Playing XI during the mega event as well.

“Ashwin’s return is a good thing but we’ll have to wait and see if he gets a place in the playing XI. You have selected him in the 15, that’s alright, you chose him in the squad in England as well but are not giving him the chance in the XI. So, he’s perhaps just given a consolation cup to make up for the disappointment that he might have from here (in England). Will he play in the XI? Only time will tell,” Gavaskar had said while speaking to Sports Tak after the BCCI announced the squad for the T20 World Cup.

Ashwin has a pretty good bowling record in T20Is as well. He is still India’s third highest wicket-taker in T20Is, with 52 wickets to his name in 46 matches at an excellent economy rate of 6.97.

Gavaskar also went on to talk about MS Dhoni’s appointment as the mentor for the Indian team during the mega event. He is of the opinion that it will benefit the team immensely.

“MS Dhoni being the mentor is bigger news than Ashwin’s selection because a captain, who led India to the 2011 World Cup and 2007 T20 World Cup wins, if he’s in that camp, then India will immensely benefit from it,” Gavaskar had added.