IND vs SA: Ashwin's Exclusion From India XI Something 'More Than Cricketing Performances', Says Gavaskar

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar believes that a player like Ashwin, who has 350 wickets in the longest format, should be playing on a more consistent basis

One of world's top-ranked spin bowlers in Test cricket with nearly, veteran R Ashwin has been 'in and out' of the Indian cricket team in past few years. The 33-year-old was picked for the Windies tour but was benched the entire series and has not played international cricket for over a year due to not being selected in limited overs format. Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar believes that a player like Ashwin, who has 350 wickets in the longest format, should be playing on a more consistent basis. “Ashwin should be a certainty. The fact that he has not been made to feel the comfort level is the reason why we are seeing him struggle a little bit,” Gavaskar told official broadcasters on Friday. “He has also got to feel he has got the confidence of the people around him. When you don’t have the confidence of people around you, when you keep getting sidelined, then you try a little too hard. “I think, there is always these little comparisons he suffers from. When playing in Australia, he is compared to Nathan Lyon. He is doing that doing this. But Lyon is bowling to the Indian batsmen. Similarly, in England, when Moeen Ali got 6 or 7 wickets, you say he didn’t get any wickets’. It can happen. Gavaskar believes that Ashwin getting sidelined, even for Test cricket, has something to do that is beyond his on-field cricket performance. “I think there is more to it than just cricketing performances which is the reason he just finds himself sidelined more often than somebody with his record should be. Somebody who has got almost 350 wickets can’t be sidelined as regularly as he has been,” he added.