‘Best Offspinner in the World’: WC Winner Backs R Ashwin’s Inclusion in India Squad, Feels Sorry for Axar Patel

The Indian cricket team made a one notable change to their ICC Cricket World Cup squad on the deadline day for finalising the 15 members.

Ravichandran Ashwin, as was highly anticipated, made the cut at the last minute after producing a couple of impressive displays during the three-match ODI series against Australia right before the world cup.

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Ashwin wasn’t part of the squad that India had named initially which raised eyebrows since it didn’t have a single specialist offspinner but had as many as three left-arm spinners including Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel.

As it turned out, Axar failed to recover from an injury in time he picked during the Asia Cup and that opened up a slot which eventually went to Ashwin.

Former India cricketer and member of the 1983 world cup winning side Sandeep Patil says the inclusion of the veteran offspinner didn’t surprise him at all as he’s the best in his category.

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“Ashwin’s inclusion wasn’t a surprise at all. Not at all,” Patil was quoted as saying by The Telegraph Online. “He’s the best off-spinner in world cricket today and I’m happy to see he’s in. I also feel sorry for Axar, who got injured. But then, you know, it was a blessing in disguise (for India).”

India won the Asia Cup before beating Australia 2-1 at home in the lead up to the ODI showpiece but Patil says the real test will be to sustain this good form throughout the tournament.

“We have a fine team, great balance and the team’s in good nick and form, which is so important. But to sustain that for a long period is difficult. I think by mid-tournament we’ll come to know where the teams actually stand,” he said.

Patil, a former selector, says it will be the responsibility of the team management to help players handle the pressure of playing in a big event in front of the home crowd.

“Also, it’s up to Rahul (Dravid) and the team management as to how they handle the situation to ensure players deal with the pressure of playing at home. We only hope things go well and they bring back the World Cup,” he said.

While the eyes will be on stars like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, allrounder Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah, Patil feels that to win a tournament, everyone has to chip in.

“If you look at 1983, we had good all-rounders and in every match, there were different heroes and performers. If you perform as a team in every game and play the role assigned to you and shoulder the responsibilities and contribute, that can certainly make things happen,” the 67-year-old said.