Veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, aged 37, has been included in India’s final 15-player squad for the 2023 World Cup. Ashwin will take the place of Axar Patel, who was initially part of the preliminary squad but hasn’t recovered from his left quadriceps injury sustained during the Asia Cup match against Bangladesh on September 15. Ashwin has already joined the team in Guwahati, where they are set to play their first warm-up game against England on September 30.
Ashwin, who ended up playing two of the three home ODIs against Australia, made the most of his chance to rejoin the format. He impressively secured four wickets in those two matches. In the second ODI held in Indore, Ashwin exhibited his full range of skills and bowled exceptionally, taking 3 wickets for 41 runs.
Ashwin’s inclusion adds an offspinner to India’s squad alongside Ravindra Jadeja’s left-arm orthodox and Kuldeep Yadav’s left-arm wristspin, making it a complete spin attack on paper.
Ahead of the final ODI in Rajkot, Rohit had spoken highly of Ashwin’s ability to deliver in the big moments. “He has the class and the experience of playing the sport and handling the pressure,” the captain said. “It is just that he has not played ODIs in the last year or so, but you cannot take away the class and the experience, and in the last couple of games, we saw how well he bowled.”
This will be Ashwin’s third ODI World Cup and his second at home. He was a member of India’s triumphant squad in the 2011 World Cup and also featured in the 2015 edition held in Australia. However, he was not selected for the 2019 edition, during which India opted for two-leg spinners. Since then, the team management has devised a strategy to reintroduce finger-spin into their game plans.
