Bangladesh cricket in turmoil: What does this mean for T20 World Cup?
The 26-year-old pacer from Punjab scored impressively in the high-scoring ODI series against South Africa, picking up five wickets in three matches at an economy rate of 5.5 per over, even as both pacers preferred him in the ongoing series – Harshit Rana (ER 6.39) and Prasidh Krishna (ER 7.80) for much more. It happened in Vadodara too. Prasidh went for 60 in his nine overs, picking two wickets and Rana claimed 65 from his 10. In Rajkot, Prasidh took 1/49 in nine overs while Rana claimed 1/52 in 9.3 overs.A fan responded to Ashwin’s post: “Don’t you understand. He’s in the T20WC team,” suggesting he was probably rested. Considering that India have dropped their top pacer Jasprit Bumrah and all-rounder Hardik Pandya from this series to keep them fresh for the T20 World Cup next month, the logic of benching Arshdeep to handle his workload is not misplaced.But the argument didn’t convince Ashwin, who replied, “One shouldn’t rest when he gets into the team. Rest means he will rest like Bumrah. Lack of continuity can affect the rhythm and therefore the performance. It’s not how much he played, but how much he didn’t play.”Speaking from what he described as a “cricketer’s perspective”, Ashwin claimed that Arshdeep’s record with the ball should have secured him an automatic place in the playing XI. “I’ve been in that position, so I know what it’s like. That’s why I’m fighting for Arshdeep Singh. Whenever you gave him the ball, he performed for you. Let him go into the eleven with his head held high,” added Ashwin.Arshdeep came into the series in great form, taking five wickets (5 for 34) against Sikkim and then 2/26 against Jaipur in the recently held Vijay Hazare Trophy, but remained in net only in the series.Perhaps Harshit Rana is preferred as he can provide useful runs at No.8 while Arshdeep is a good old tailender. But if India want to win the series on Sunday, they need to seriously look at a playing bowler like Arshdeep.