'If you depend on Ashwin at No.8 what does it tell about your top-7?': Gavaskar
India has had a rather impressive T20 World Cup campaign so far and stand on the brink of making the semis as they head for their final group match against Zimbabwe in Melbourne on Sunday. However, the side has been criticised by veterans and experts all throughout for their playing XI selection for the World Cup. Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has been among them, and ahead of the match against Zimbabwe, he has lambasted the Indian think tank, questioning their logic behind few of the selections.
One of the few many selection issues have been preferring Ashwin over Yuzvendra Chahal in the XI. India have been in favour of batting depth in the T20I format and Ashwin pips Chahal comfortably in the race and the veteran did show with a few handy cameos, especially the one against Bangladesh in their last match.
However, Gavaskar has questioned the logic behind putting faith in Ashwin as a No.8 batter in a 20-over game rather than picking an out-and-out bowler in Chahal, who is a wicket-taking option. Speaking to India Today ahead of the Zimbabwe game, he opined that picking Ashwin simply for his batting shows that India don't have faith in their top 7, which he added, hasn't collectively clicked at the World Cup.
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"If you are going to depend on No.8 what does it tell you about your top 7 then? Is the management saying that they don't have confidence in their top 7 in a 20-overs game? I can understand a 50-over game, you look to have a bot more batting depth, but in 20-over game if you think your top 7 is not going to bat for the entire 20 overs and get you enough runs then I don't know.
"At the end of the day, they know their oppositions and have their strategies down. I want Chahal to play against Netherlands as well and now as well. But then not having played a match here and been thrown suddenly in the deep end isn't fair," he said.
Gavaskar also feels that given India's dominance over Zimbabwe in the format, it gives them a chance to feature players like Rishabh Pant in a group-stage match rather than picking them in a match in the semis and over burdening them with expectations.
“If you think that you need a No.8 in a 20-overs game then doesn't really show much confidence in your top 7. Yes I know the batting has not quiet...apart from Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya to an extent and KL Rahul in the previous game, it hasn't really clicked. But at No.8, if you are picking somebody because he can bat at that position that's not the way you should be looking at. And taking for granted, although you can't really in this format of the game, that India beat Zimbabwe, this again is an opportunity to try someone like a Rishabh Pant. Give him a chance and let him bat up the order, at No.5, and not worry about who is coming at 6 or 7. Let him bat after Suryakumar Yadav at No.5 and let him show what he is capable of and get some game time then you can think if can be picked for the semis.”
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