"Wish you lots of wickets at both ends" - Wasim Jaffer reacts to Ravichandran Ashwin's selection in India's 2023 World Cup squad

Former Indian opening batter Wasim Jaffer has congratulated veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on being selected for the 2023 World Cup squad. The former Test cricketer cheekily wished for wickets on both ends for Ashwin in the showpiece event, starting on October 5 in India.

The veteran finger spinner replaced Axar Patel. The latter failed to recover in time from his quadriceps strain suffered during the Asia Cup 2023 Super 4 match against Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, Jaffer's tweet on X (formerly Twitter) is in reference to the 37-year-old's habit of affecting the controversial non-striker run-out at times. He wrote:

"Congratulations on making the WC squad @ashwinravi99 wish you lots of wickets at both ends CWC23"

The Tamil Nadu-born cricketer was outstanding in the two ODIs out of the three in the recent series against Australia, which the hosts won 2-1. He finished with four wickets, including three in the second ODI in Indore, dismissing David Warner, Marnus Labuschagne, and Josh Inglis.

"He's got a lot of variations up his sleeves" - Rohit Sharma on Ravichandran Ashwin

Prior to the third ODI against Australia in Rajkot on Wednesday, skipper Rohit Sharma heaped praise on Ashwin. He said it's difficult to downplay the spinner's performances in the previous two games and hoped his experience to come in handy for India.

Rohit said during a press conference:

"You cannot take away the class and the experience that the individual has over the years and in the last couple of games we saw how well he bowled. He's got a lot of variation up his sleeves and in case there is a chance, we can look at a lot of things."

"So hopefully, the way things are at this point in time, it does well for us because we've got all the backups and everything ready as well."

The Men in Blue start as firm favorites for the World Cup and open their campaign against Pat Cummins-led Australia on October 8 in Chennai.

They will play their first warm-up match against England on Saturday (September 30) at Baraspara Stadium in Guwahati. The hosts' second practice fixture is against the Netherlands in Thiruvananthapuram on October 3.