‘Why Not Batters’ - Sunil Gavaskar Questions Double Standard of Indian Management For Neglecting Ashwin in SENA Tours

Legendary Sunil Gavaskar has criticized the Indian team management for their double standards in the way they treated Ravichandran Ashwin during tours to SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia) countries, questioning why batters could not be treated the same way.

This comes after the veteran off-spinner announced his retirement from international cricket, having been overlooked in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in Australia. Ashwin brought down the curtains on his 14-year international career last week following the Brisbane Test.

Ashwin was omitted from the Perth Test in favour of Washington Sundar, but was included in the Adelaide Test before being benched again for Ravindra Jadeja in the Brisbane Test, which ended in a draw after persistent rains. This is not the first time Ashwin has been left out, the senior spinner has often been the second choice during SENA tours.

While he is an immediate pick in home Tests as India play two or even more spinners, Ashwin has played in only 26 Tests in SENA countries despite being picked in the squads for tours to South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia.

In his column for the Mid Day, Gavaskar has slammed the team management for their treatment of Ashwin on overseas tours and using team balance as an excuse to leave the veteran spinner out of the playing eleven.

"Cricket being a batters' game, the fact that he invariably won the Player of the Series award didn't win him kudos among the batters' fraternity. Every time there was even a five percent excuse to leave him out of the eleven, it was grabbed avidly with the excuse of team balance," Gavaskar said.

The Indian cricket legend also asked why were the batters not picked based on their ability to play in overseas conditions if the number one ranked bowler was dropped due to the pitch on offer.

"At home, there was no way he could be left out because the management knew that without him, they could not win the game. If the excuse was that the pitch and conditions wouldn't suit the ICC number one-ranked bowler, how come the same excuse was not used for the batters even if they were not top-ranked by ICC, but who struggled in similar pitches and conditions?," Gavaskar further questioned.

Ashwin, who finished as India's second-highest wicket-taker across formats, had never been handed over the leadership role of the national side, but many felt the senior player had the ability to lead the team, including Gavaskar, who believed the Tamil Nadu player deserved at least to be named vice captain.

"Ashwin would have made a fine captain for India, but he was denied even the honor of being the vice-captain. There was an opportunity to give him the belated honour even if it was for a token Test match and a limited-overs bilateral series, but that also was denied to him," Gavaskar added.

The Indian great, however, praised Rohit Sharma for his gesture of asking Ashwin to lead the team out during his 100th Test earlier this year, "That's why it was so good to see Rohit Sharma ask him to lead the team out on his 100th Test match."