"Ashwin with his experience and his canniness will play as a key factor" - Sunil Gavaskar on the importance of veteran off-spinner in World Cup 2023
Indian legend and former captain Sunil Gavaskar felt Ravichandran Ashwin's impact would be seen in the middle overs during the ICC ODI World Cup 2023.
The prestigious event gets underway with a repeat of the 2019 final between England and New Zealand in Ahmedabad on October 5. Team India will play their opening game against Australia in Chennai on October 8.
Ashwin, who had been in the wilderness in the ODI format since early last year, returned for the recent Australia series due to a quadriceps injury suffered by Axar Patel. The 37-year-old picked up four wickets in the opening two games to help take an unassailable 2-0 lead.
With Axar subsequently being ruled out of the World Cup, Ashwin was included in the 15-member squad for the showpiece event.
Speaking to Star Sports, Gavaskar stressed Ashwin's importance during the middle overs on batting-friendly tracks.
"It is the middle overs which is...we saw what good pitch this was so players can play through the line when the ball is not deviating or turn or bounce. And this is where Ashwin with his experience and his canniness will play as a key factor," said Gavaskar.
While the 1983 World Cup-winning cricketer wasn't sure of Team India selecting Ashwin in the playing XI, he felt the veteran off-spinner was the ideal partnership breaker.
"I'm not sure if they will play him in the XI for the big matches but he is the kind if bowler who can actually get you wickets in the middle overs, and that doesn't allow partnerships to build and subsequently, a team can be restricted to a low total," added Gavaskar.
Team India faces off against defending champions England in the first of their two World Cup warm-up games in Guwahati on Saturday, September 30. Following the England clash, Rohit Sharma's men will head south to play the Netherlands in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday, October 3.
"He is too experienced a bowler to repeat those mistakes" - Sunil Gavaskar
Sunil Gavaskar expressed surprise at ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah being extremely expensive in the third and final ODI against Australia in Rajkot.
Bumrah conceded 51 runs in the first five overs of his spell before coming back strong to finish with figures of 3/81 in his ten overs.
However, Gavaskar hailed all three Indian pacers with the new ball and exuded confidence in Bumrah not repeating such mistakes as he displayed in his first spell against the Aussies.
"To start with the new ball there is Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami...I don't know if all three of them will play in the World Cup, but these three are world-class bowlers. We saw Bumrah took a little bit of a hammering in Rajkot against Australia. He is too experienced a bowler to repeat those mistakes. But that is not to worry," said Gavaskar.
Bumrah recently returned from a year-long injury layoff in the T20I series against Ireland and was immediately named Player of the Series.
The 29-year-old boasts an impeccable bowling record in ODIs, with 129 wickets in 78 games at an average of 24.31 and an economy rate of under 4.70 runs per over.