If Ravichandran Ashwin has a good IPL, he should be considered for T20 World Cup: L Sivaramakrishnan

Former Indian leg-spinner L Sivaramakrishnan believes veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin still has a lot to offer in white-ball cricket. Ashwin has not represented India in white-ball cricket since 2017, but he has proved to be more than a handful in the IPL.

Sivaramakrishnan feels Ravichandran Ashwin's experience will be very handy for the Indian team in the T20 World Cup, especially if the opposition chooses to field left-handers.

Speaking at a press conference arranged by Sony, the 55-year-old explained how Ashwin could be an asset to the Indian white-ball team. With the T20 World Cup to be played in the UAE, the second phase of IPL 2021 (also at the UAE) could be crucial for Ravichandran Ashwin. Sivaramakrishnan said:

“Yes, he (Ravichandran Ashwin) is one of the outstanding bowlers we’ve had in the last few years. His experience will definitely help. He bowls very well to left handers. He’s not a slouch on the field, he can field reasonably well and is a safe catcher. He has worked hard on his fielding and fitness. He should be considered in my opinion. If there are a lot of left handers in the opposition, you want your best off-spinner to be bowling to them. If Ashwin has a good IPL in the UAE, he should be considered."

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Along with Ravichandran Ashwin, L Sivaramakrishnan also spoke about Kuldeep Yadav

"He (Kuldeep Yadav) has a Unique talent a Left arm chinaman. I remember his Delivery to Babar Azam to castle him. We were thinking. What a find. India is lucky to have this kind of talent." - Mohammad Kaif (In press)

— CricketMAN2 (@man4_cricket) July 14, 2021

L Sivaramakrishnan feels Kuldeep Yadav has lost confidence in his bowling and will need a lot of support from the team management. The left-arm wrist-spinner has struggled to consistently feature for India in the last few years.

However, the Sri Lanka tour could be a golden opportunity for him to make a strong comeback and make his case for the T20 World Cup stronger. Sivaramakrishnan feels Kuldeep will need to work harder if he wants to make it to the showpiece event.

“Work needs to be done on Kuldeep, both technically and mentally. He is still very young, a rare kind of a bowler. He can come back and be very useful for India. It doesn’t help if your IPL team drops you. That’s where you build your confidence. If he works hard and has a good IPL, he can have a good chance of a comeback."