"Ravichandran Ashwin may not get picked in the auction next year" - Virender Sehwag slams RR spinner for his wickets 'irrelevant' comment

Virender Sehwag recently slammed Ravichandran Ashwin on Sunday for the off-spinner's comment that wicket-taking is becoming "irrelevant" in IPL 2024. The former opener said teams pick bowlers in auctions for wickets and not good economy and if Ashwin's stats don't improve, he might not find a team in IPL 2025.

Ashwin's comments came a few days ago on his YouTube channel. He said that this phenomenon emerged from Artificial Intelligence and other technologies-based programs on team tactics. He even said that wicket-taking was "hampering" teams too, probably hinting at how getting a struggling batter out can allow a big-hitter to come in while dot balls could be more useful.

However, Sehwag completely disagreed with the notion.

"This is the same as when KL Rahul had said that the strike rate doesn't matter. Same thing," he said on Cricbuzz. "He said it for batting, Ashwin has said it for bowling that it doesn't matter if you get the wickets. If his stats aren't good, then he may not even get picked in the auction next year. When you pick a bowler, do you expect him to give away 25-30 runs or do you expect him to give you wickets and become man of the match twice or thrice?"

Ashwin has just two wickets for the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in eight matches this year at an economy rate of nine. Although that's his worst figure for any IPL season, the current edition has been a batting paradise thanks to the Impact Player rule and short boundaries.

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Ashwin won't find a place in my team if he's thinking about saving runs: Virender Sehwag

Sehwag also diagnosed that the spinner wasn't getting any wickets in IPL 2024 because he was holding his stock ball back in the fear of getting hit, even as his spin "competitors" were getting their numbers up.

"All his competitors - (Yuzvendra) Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav or anyone else - are getting the wickets. He thinks if he bowls off spin then anyone will hit him. This is why he bowls his carrom bowl, which is why he is not getting any wickets. Maybe if he believes in his off-spin or doosra, he can bag more wickets. But that's his mindset.

"But if I were a mentor or a coach of a franchise, I wouldn't think like that. If my bowler is thinking about saving runs and not taking wickets, he won't find a place in the team," Sehwag added.

RR are currently at the top of the table in IPL 2024 and the only team to qualify so far, thanks to their near-perfect eight wins from nine games.