Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh saw his baton passed on to Ravichandran Ashwin as the prime off-spinner in the Indian cricketing fraternity. (More Cricket News)
The willy spinner has been a force to be reckoned with on home soil, especially all formats. However, Ashwin's age is not making him any younger and sooner rather than later, Team India will have to look at his replacement.
“India are definitely looking for a next-gen off-spinner, as in last India ‘A’ series against England Lions, they tried three off-spinners in three matches: Pulkit Narang, Washington Sundar and Saransh Jain,” Dinesh Karthik was quoted on Cricbuzz.
“They are trying out and Washington Sundar is the front-runner behind Ravichandran Ashwin right now. He’s done well in whatever limited opportunities he’s got and I feel he will get his due first before going to anybody else,” Karthik added.
Are Off-Spinners 'Off' The Market In Cricket?
In the current age, the bats have got bigger and the pitches have been producing more batting-friendly conditions that makes it more difficult for the off-spinners. However, the likes of leg-spinners and chinaman bowlers are able to cope with it.
“See, any spinner will get hit on a given day. Off-spinners are much easier in the sense they get into the arc because a lot of cricketers are good at hitting sixes to cow corner. So it is a natural shot as off-spinners get into that slot very easily,” former India off-spinner and Tamil Nadu coach M Venkataramana was quoted in The Indian Express.
Ashwin will be have bigger role for Team India in a busy schedule starting with the home series against Bangladesh and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy starting in November.
