Annoyed Virat Kohli rules out R Ashwin's return in white-ball format, backs young Washington Sundar in T20Is

New Delhi, March 11: India captain Virat Kohli seemed visibly annoyed with the query on Ravichandran Ashwin's T20I comeback and claimed young off-spinner Washington Sundar has done nothing wrong to be benched.

Addressing media persons on the eve of India's first T20I against England, Kohli ruled out talks of the senior off-spinner R Ashwin's returns in the white-ball format. Kohli backed his opinion saying there's no point in having two similar spinners in the T20I side and nothing of that sort is going to happen unless Sundar has a horrible show.

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"Washington has been doing really well for us. So you cannot have two players of the same discipline, playing in one spot. So (this will not happen) unless Washy has a drastically horrible season and things go south for him," Kohli said in a virtual pre-match press conference ahead of the series opener against England.

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The India skipper also said those putting up such question should also have some kind of logic as well and even asked where the senior Tamil Nadu spinner fits in the squad.

"I mean the question has to be asked with some kind of logic as well. You suggest where you would add Ash (Ashwin), and play him in the team?" he quipped.

"Washington already does that job for the team. It's easy to ask a question but you should have a logical explanation to it yourself," added Kohli.

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23-year-old Sundar - who plays under Kohli's captaincy for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL - enjoys an impressive economy rate of less than 7 per over (6.95) in 26 T20Is. It the Tamil Nadu spinner's brilliant show in the T20s that earned him a spot in the Indian Test side which he grabbed with both hands.

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Meanwhile, Ashwin has also been doing exceedingly well in the IPL and voices have been growing over his inclusion in the limited-overs side too. But the team management has made it pretty clear that they'll persist with the seasoned campaigner only in the red-ball format for now.

Kohli, meanwhile, expressed his happiness on the return of premier pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar to the T20I side after a long injury lay-off.

The senior pacer from Uttar Pradesh had suffered a thigh muscle injury during IPL 2020 which ruled him out of the league as well as the tour of Australia. Bhuvneshwar has been Team India's best white-ball exponent he last played a T20I in December 2019.

"Glad to have him back, he is keen to contribute to many more Indian wins. Hope he can build strongly from here," Virat Kohli said on Bhuvneshwar Kumar's return.

India - who are second in T20I rankings - will begin their preparations for the ICC T20 World Cup, scheduled to be held later this year at home, with the highly-anticipated series against the No. 1-ranked T20 side England.