Former India skipper and one of the greatest batsmen in the history of the sport, Sunil Gavaskar feels that Ravichandran Ashwin is unlikely to make a comeback in the limited-overs squads ahead of the upcoming white-ball fixture against England.
The veteran off-spinner was last seen in a blue jersey during the one-off T20I match against West Indies in July 2017. Although, his brilliant performances with both and ball in the 2020-21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy and in the first two Tests against England have rekindled hopes of him being seen playing for the Men in Blue, yet again.
When Gavaskar was asked if Ashwin can return to India’s limited-overs setup, he asserted that the Chennai-born bowler doesn’t “fit” into the national team’s scheme of things in shorter formats.
The 71-year-old highlighted that India have the balanced ODI and T20I squads with the emergence of all-rounders, Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja.
Speaking on Star Sports network Gavaskar said, “I don’t think he will now make a comeback in the Indian limited-overs team because India have found in Hardik Pandya the all-rounder at No.7, there is Ravindra Jadeja and then they will have three seamers or maybe one spinner and two pacers.”
“I don’t think he will fit into the squad at the moment and therefore, he will be a Test match player for the next half a dozen years at least,” the former India captain added.
Ashwin is currently preparing for the third Test of the ongoing four-match series against England which is set to take place at the Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad from February 24.