"Very easy to criticize the team on social media" - Ravichandran Ashwin on India's T20I series loss vs WI

Reacting to India's T20I series loss to West Indies, veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin stated that it wasn't an easy assignment for the youngsters. He mentioned that it was easy to slam the Indian side on social media for losing to a team that failed to qualify for the recent World Cups in both ODI and T20I formats.

Ashwin, however, opined that West Indies players had the upper hand because of the home advantage. Speaking on his YouTube channel, he explained:

"There are plenty of positives for Team India from this T20 series. It is very easy to criticize the team on social media since they lost to a team that didn’t qualify for the last T20 World Cup in West Indies. They haven’t qualified for the upcoming 50-over World Cup as well.

"I am not talking about backing, supporting, or anything. All of these are secondary. As a youngster, if you are going to West Indies, there will be some challenges. In all countries, there will be some innate secrets. The local players will know these little things more than the visiting teams’ players. Especially, when these visiting teams’ players are youngsters."

Ashwin suggested that the angst of fans is understandable after India's underwhelming performances. However, he pointed out how there were a lot of positives for the Men in Blue to take home, adding:

"Obviously, losing the series 3-2 to West Indies… Many of them are criticizing and upset. It’s okay and understandable. It’s only fair, I guess. But we can see this loss from two perspectives. Many players did well for India.

"The emergence of Tilak Varma as a batter. In fact, in the final T20I, he chipped in with the ball too. Suryakumar Yadav’s continued brilliance in T20 cricket. His fearless batting. The opening combination of Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal won us the 4th T20I."

The Hardik Pandya-led Indian side suffered an eight-wicket loss in the fifth and final T20I on Sunday (August 13) as West Indies pocketed the series 3-2.

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"Went for the shots from the very first over" - Ravichandran Ashwin on Yashasvi Jaiswal's approach in T20I series against West Indies

Ashwin was impressed by Yashasvi Jaiswal's counter-attacking approach in the five-match T20I series against West Indies. He highlighted how the southpaw played courageously in the fourth fixture despite failing to make an impact in the earlier fixture, which was also his debut T20I outing.

Lauding the talented youngster, Ashwin added:

"Yashasvi Jaiswal got three T20Is in this series. He didn’t play that well in his first T20I. But see, he never died wondering, even in that game. His approach made us wonder if this is going to be the future of T20I batting. He went for the shots from the very first over and was like, 'I am never going to die wondering.'"

Jaiswal was dismissed for just one run on his T20I debut. However, he made amends with a spectacular unbeaten 84-run knock in the very next encounter.