Ravi Ashwin focuses on enjoying cricket and not fretting about playing 2019 World Cup

Ravi Ashwin has seemingly lost out on his place in the Indian squad with the emergence of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal. Ashwin has also gone so far as to experiment with wrist spin, something he has had little success with in the past. However, being a senior member in the Indian side, Ashwin said that playing a good amount of cricket was far more important than solidifying his place in the World Cup squad.

When quizzed about it, Ashwin said that he was focused on playing as much cricket as possible. “It entirely depends on what other people (team management and selectors) perceive of my cricket. It’s definitely not in my control. Like any other cricketer, I want to wear the blue jersey and represent India at the World Cup. That’s obviously there deep with in,” Ashwin told reporters.

“At this stage of my career, physically and mentally, I am just focusing on enjoying my cricket. If I land an opportunity, I want to be in good frame of mind to grab it with both hands,” he added.

‘Nothing is experimentation’

In recent times, many noticed Ravi Ashwin trying to bowl the occasional leg-breaks. He added that there was indeed a logic behind hiim bowling the leg-breaks and googlies although it was something he had stayed away from bowling them in the Afghanistan Test.

“Nothing for me is experimentation. There is logic behind whatever I do. Before I bowled a delivery of leg-spin in IPL, I have bowled about, probably, a lakh of balls in practice. The thought process alone is experimentation. What I might do tomorrow in a game, I really don’t know. As a Test cricketer, I pretty much know what is important in a Test match. If I wanted to bowl a bunch of leg spin and googly, I would have done it in Afghanistan (test),” Ashwin’s answer made it clear as to where he stood.

‘We fancy ourselves in England’

Speaking about the upcoming tour of England, Ashwin added that he was indeed optimistic about India’s chances. England are currently the best team in the world when it comes to ODI cricket. However, the Indians will prove a potent test for the mighty Britons.

“England is a strong team in the shorter formats. They tweaked their strategy and team combination after the 2015 World Cup. The key for India in ODIs will be Bhuvneshwar and Bumrah’s death overs. Hopefully, it will be a high scoring series,” he added.

“We have a good battery of fast bowlers who have done exceedingly well in the South Africa tour. We fancy our chances. Going in the second half of the English summer, the spinners will definitely come into play. I’m not going to set any personal records to achieve,” he added.

Stay updated on ‘today’s cricket news‘ with CricTracker.com.