‘Ashwin very much in frame for 2019 Cricket World Cup’

LOOKING AHEAD His ineffectiveness in English conditions is not a cause for worry, says bowling coach Bharat Arun

plans as India prepare for the event. This, despite Ashwin making only sporadic appearances in the ODI squad.

It will be a major move if the Indian think-tank is looking beyond the spinner, but Ashwin played only three matches in the ICC Champions Trophy, and took just one wicket against South Africa. He played in the defeat against Pakistan in the final, but returned wicketless giving away 70 runs.

Arun though chose to look at Ashwin’s last ODI game – 3/28 in the West Indies where he played in the first three matches.

“To be honest, this is a question you should be asking the selector,” he said, asked about Ashwin’s infrequent ODIs.

“As a bowling coach, he is a talented bowler. Even if you look at the last one-day which he played in the West Indies, he got 3/25. Ashwin is skillful. That’s it, I’ve answered your question.”

But what about Ashwin not regularly featuring in ODIs?

“I don’t want to see what has happened so far. What I would like to see is yes, Ashwin is also part of the team we are looking at. We are also looking at giving opportunities to other bowlers. We have a long-term plan in place, we will work accordingly.”

Ashwin’s record away from the sub-continent has not been great. From the team’s point of view, while it has wrist-spin options in leggie Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav, there is hardly any back-up off-spinner of quality at the moment.

Why only offspinner, we will need to have backup options for every bowler that we have. And there are enough bowlers in our country.