I feel we have a long way to go in understanding T20 cricket: Ravichandran Ashwin

Veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has said that India still need to learn and implement a lot of new things in T20s. His remarks came after the Men in Blue’s humiliating T20 World Cup ouster following a ten-wicket defeat to the eventual champions England in the semis.

Ashwin’s key areas of focus were the Orange and Purple Caps that are awarded in the IPL each year and he mentioned that the move of only highlighting the volume of runs scored and wickets taken needs a bit of rethinking.

It's important to know how the end user is consuming the game: Ravichandran Ashwin

"I feel we have a long way to go in understanding T20 cricket. It's important to know how the end user is consuming the game. Based on that only the rest of the things will start happening. Let's start with the IPL itself,” said Ashwin while speaking on his YouTube channel.

"We have orange and purple caps. Both have a significant volume when it comes to the IPL. It talks about volume of runs and volume of wickets. Whether we need a rethink on that itself is my thought,” he added.

Apart from failing to make the finals of the recently-concluded T20 World Cup down under, the Indian team had also failed to qualify for the Asia Cup final (2022) earlier as they crashed out from the Super 4 following losses against arch-rivals Pakistan and the eventual champions Sri Lanka.

However, the Men in Blue have been really successful in bilateral T20I series and not lost any home or away series in the last 12 months. Ravichandran Ashwin, on the other hand, has been retained by the inaugural edition winners Rajasthan Royals for IPL 2023.

He had a good 2022 season for RR as he scored 191 runs in 17 matches averaging 27.29 and at a strike rate of 141.48 including a half-century. With the ball in hand, the Tamil Nadu cricketer registered 12 scalps to his name at an economy of 7.51.

Ashwin finished the T20 World Cup with six wickets from as many games and his best performance in the tournament came during India’s final Super 12 fixture against Zimbabwe where he registered figures of 3/22 in his four overs at an economy rate of 5.50.

Nonetheless, both he and left-arm spinner Axar Patel were taken to the cleaners by England’s opening pair of skipper Jos Buttler and  Alex Hales in the semifinals as the Three Lions successfully chased down 169 with a good four overs to spare.

The veteran off-spinner went wicketless and conceded 27 runs in the two overs that he got to bowl at a dismal economy rate of 13.50.