Former Indian cricket player Ravichandran Ashwin voiced his anger over Arshdeep Singh‘s exclusion from India’s September 10 Asia Cup 2025 first match against the United Arab Emirates. With 99 T20I wickets at an astounding strike rate of 13.23 in just 63 games, the left-arm bowler has an outstanding record. In the format, he also takes the most wickets for India.
Despite the fact that the performances haven’t been bad at all, Ashwin blasted head coach Gautam Gambhir’s choice, pointing out that Arshdeep’s removal has been a regular occurrence under his direction. The Men in Blue bowled out the UAE for just 57 runs and chased down the mark in just 4.3 overs, registering a commanding nine-wicket victory despite the controversy.
Although Arshdeep’s dismissal is unexpected, it’s not a novel occurrence.
Since Gautam Gambhir began coaching, this has been taking place. Not all of the Champions Trophy was played by Arshdeep. It has been somewhat of a recurring motif. Maybe they are favouring spinners because of the circumstances in Dubai. On his YouTube channel, Ashwin stated, “Gamhir was also going all out on spin when KKR won the title.”
Since he was left out of the five-match T20I series against England in 2025, Arshdeep only missed one home series for India. The left-arm pacer has taken four wickets in three Twenty20 Internationals so far this year, and he has also taken two in his one ODI appearance. He was included in the team that flew to Dubai for the Champions Trophy, but he was once again denied opportunities, as Mohammed Shami and Harshit Rana were picked to play.
“Until the T20 World Cup, this is the theme that we might observe. However, I don’t think this combo can defeat a strong squad. It’s pretty dangerous. One of the best performers is Arshdeep. In the World Cup match against South Africa, he was outstanding. It will be difficult to keep a man like that out for very long. Although I am aware that Shivam Dube claimed a few wickets, Arshdeep stated, “I am not persuaded by this bowling combination.”
India chose a deeper batting lineup, therefore the Guna-born player, who was the format’s top wicket-taker, was left out. The team relied on the all-around skills of Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, and Shivam Dube to balance the lineup, as they only had three specialist bowlers: Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, and Kuldeep Yadav.
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