"If Ashwin is bowling to get you wickets, then yes, maybe" - Sanjay Manjrekar on off-spinner's place in India's ODI XI heading into World Cup 2023

Sanjay Manjrekar feels Ravichandran Ashwin should be in contention for a place in India's ODI XI heading into World Cup 2023 only if he doesn't look to bowl defensively.

Ashwin doesn't seem to be in India's ODI scheme of things currently. The off-spinner has not been picked in the Men in Blue's 17-member squad for the upcoming three-match ODI series against the West Indies.

During a discussion on ESPNcricinfo 'Run Order', Manjrekar was not too convinced about Ashwin's place in India's 50-over side heading into the World Cup just to add depth to the batting, saying:

"If Ashwin is bowling to get you wickets, then yes, maybe. But we have seen him when he bowls in white-ball cricket, he has not really. Although that has improved greatly, it is not like a Chahal, who looks to get you wickets all the time."

Ashwin has picked up 151 wickets at an impressive economy rate of 4.94 in the 113 ODIs he has played. However, the Tamil Nadu spinner has played just two ODIs since 2017, picking up a solitary wicket and conceding an average of 6.05 runs per over.

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"It's not part of the playing conditions" - Sanjay Manjrekar on whether India's ODI XI should have spinners who can bat

Ravindra Jadeja is likely to be India's first-choice spin-bowling all-rounder.

Sanjay Manjrekar opined that India don't necessarily need to have spinners who are capable of wielding the willow effectively:

"I want to also make one very important observation here. We keep talking about this all-rounder that we must have. There is no must-have kind of all-rounder. It's not part of the playing conditions or the laws of the game that you must have an all-rounder."

The former Indian batter pointed out that sides with specialist batters who could roll their arm over have enjoyed great success in past ODI World Cups:

"This is one of my pet peeves that I have had over the years and I have done a lot of research on this aspect as well. If you look at all the 50-over World Cup champs, most of those who won the title have played with proper batters and proper bowlers."

Manjrekar added:

"Teams that have had the privilege or were lucky to have proper batters who could bowl a bit have had the advantage in 50-over World Cups, like Sri Lanka, there is Pakistan when they won in 1992, the West Indies, Australia - everyone."

The cricketer-turned-commentator cited the examples of Andrew Symonds and Yuvraj Singh to substantiate his point. He concluded by stating that one shouldn't go looking for all-rounders as then one might find someone who is not good enough in either of the departments.