‘So what’s the value of India’s team cap?’: Ashwin rejects both teams’ theories in brutal tone
Ravichandran Ashwin Firmly denying the controversy over India fielding two separate T20I teams, he stressed that India’s caps must retain their value and cannot be handed out haphazardly. spoke on his show ash ki buttAshwin addressed reports that India may split squads due to overlapping commitments, specifically the T20I series against West Indies (October 6-17) and Asian Games (September 19th to October 6th). The idea of fielding a second line-up that could consist of emerging IPL players like Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh is not something the veteran off-spinner agrees with. “So what is the value of an India cap? What respect does it get? You need to have a proud moment to wear an India cap. Why are you playing cricket? Because you represent so much of the Indian public and they are watching and everyone praises our cricket and you want to debut in front of your fans and play in all formats of the game. All this definitely comes to mind. Now people debut somewhere and then people forget about it,” Ashwin said. Instead, he advocates strengthening India’s talent pipeline without diluting the cachet of the senior team. “India caps have to have value. If you want them to be exposed, send them on India A tour. You can’t just give out India caps. Televise India A tour and people will watch and have fun. But you can’t just give out India caps for free. It has to have value,” he added. Even as the long-term focus turns to the 2027 ICC Cricket World Cup, India’s post-IPL schedule remains packed with T20 cricket matches. The international season begins with a one-off Test and three ODI matches against the Afghanistan national cricket team from June 6 to 20. Two T20Is will then make a short tour of Ireland from June 26 to 28, before five T20Is head to England for an official tour between July 1 and 11, followed by a three-match ODI series. India will then travel to Zimbabwe for a three-match T20I series from July 23 to 26. Later this year, they will host the West Indies cricket team for three ODIs between October 6 and 17, followed by five T20Is. The year’s finale is India’s home series against the Sri Lankan national cricket team, which will cap off a busy white-ball schedule with three ODIs and three T20Is between December 13 and 27.
