'People tend to slide into mock it:' R Ashwin calls out the overrated mindset of taking wickets in T20s
Ravichandran Ashwin advocated against the cliche that wicket-taking is necessary to defend low totals in T20 cricket following India’s miraculous win over Pakistan. Ashwin posted a screenshot from Sid Monga’s piece for ESPNcricinfo to back his point on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter).
Ashwin feels wickets happen automatically if the bowler comes at his right entry point and has the skillsets to execute like Jasprit Bumrah did last night. He also added bowlers often try to take wickets at the wrong time when they should preserve run-scoring, thinking of it as an aggressive move, for it takes away the pressure for the bowler coming from the other end in the next over.
“Wicket taking is overrated in T20. Very often when I have said this, people tend to slide into mock it. In T 20 wickets happen and how!! is totally dependant on the entry point of the bowler and of course the ability to execute apt skills in that over or ball like Bumrah did last night”
“Very often bowlers search for wickets at faulty times thinking it’s an aggressive option, hence denying his/her team mate the pressure pocket for the next over. Slowly but surely, a set of selfless bowlers doing what it takes will be the order of the game.”
Ravichandran Ashwin has always been vocal about giving importance to checking the scoring rate over trying to take wickets in T20 cricket and has voiced his opinion multiple times. His point somewhat proved right during India’s valiant effort to save their 119-run total against Pakistan in New York last night.
The Indian bowlers kept applying pressure on Pakistani batters and didn’t let them score freely at any point in the game. Consequently, batters had to take the unwanted risks, which worked in India’s favour, for they lost wickets in bunches.
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Despite batting the whole 20 overs, Pakistan couldn’t score 120 due to tight bowling from all Indian bowlers. Hence, they lost the game by six runs, even though three wickets were still left.
That’s precisely what Ashwin meant. The wickets will come automatically if bowlers bowl in tight areas in T20 cricket.
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