Muttiah Muralitharan gives his verdict on R Ashwin's position in T20s: 'In red-ball cricket, there isn't much competition'

Sri Lankan bowling great Muttiah Muralitharan says quality and depth in Indian cricket's white ball eco-system is so good that country has created an unimaginable talent pool in T20 format.

owner of 800 Test wickets and greatest off-spinner of all times me his point with an observation that a bowler of calibre of Ravichandran Ashwin struggles to make it to India's playing XI in white-ball matches.

Ashwin, who is closing in on 450 Test wickets, is back in white ball mix after being in wilderness in shorter formats for more than three years.

"re are too many quality options in Indian cricket system. re is very stiff competition among top Indian spinners in white ball cricket," Murali told PTI in an interview organized by Legends League Cricket (LLC).

"In red-ball cricket, re isn't much competition as Ashwin is on top. He is peerless. moment we turn to T20, because of IPL, we get to see too many talented options as re are so many matches being played. That certainly speaks about depth of Indian cricket.

"So when you get an option to compare his exploits with ors and opportunities to play T20Is get shared." One of greatest exponents of doosra ( wrong 'un), Murali never compromised on his core strength which was a big off-break that he could turn at right angles taking track out of equation.

So are off-spinners using too many carrom balls in white ball cricket? "You can't bowl just carrom balls. You have to mix it up. Even during our times, we used floaters with conventional off breaks. You can't bowl same ball again and again as batters tend to re you well. To stay on top, you need to have eugh variations in your bowling."

Off-spinners vs left handers? Murali wants flexibility

Since vent of T20 leagues across globe, cricketing term that has been in vogue is word "match-ups" -- a specific skilled player pitted against an opposition player of ar skill.

Like an off-spinner up against left-handers.

Murali, though, doesn't believe in that concept.

"Never believe this concept that an off spinner will only be effective when a left handed batter is in operation. That's t kind of mindset you should have when you go out re. Even if re is a right hander batting, you should have skills to get him out. skipper should also show a lot of belief that his off spinner could do job."

Finger spinners will never go out of fashion in T20Is

During Ravi Shastri-Bharat Arun era, one saw vent of "Kul-Cha", two wrist spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yav, who did enjoy a fair degree of success before both suffered a slump in form.

re were talks wher finger spinners were going out of fashion. Ask Murali and he would emphatically deny such ories.

"Spinners will always remain special bowlers in T20 cricket. All se T20 leagues won't be what y are if re were quality spinners in each team. Finger spinners, if you mean off spinners, will never go out of fashion in T20 cricket." A good leg-spinner needs a good captain in order to blossom but does same hold true for an off-break bowler? "I won't say a good off-spinner would always need a good captain. A captain has to think about all 11 players, including him, but primary requisite of an off spinner will always be talent."

A tournament win can't heal wound of a nation

Sri Lanka recently won a major trophy in Asia Cup after a gap of eight years. While Murali believes that Sri Lankan players have every right to celebrate success, he doesn't believe that a sporting victory can heal scars of what his country went through due to collapse of democracy.

"I wouldn't say a victory in a cricket tournament can heal wounds of a nation. Sport is different and nation is different. Just like every nation goes through rough times, our cricket also went through a b patch and is w going in right direction." He refused a comparison between current team with past ones when he was an active players.

"In our era, we won a lot of games and subsequently lot of tournaments like World Cup, Asia Cup and a lot of trophies. For us, Asia Cup was ar Cup. But I must say, for this team, pushed back by everyone, winning after 8 years is a great thing." As far as Dasun Shanaka's captaincy is concerned, he termed him as a "good captain".

But as he signed off, he didn't forget to d that "a captain is as good as his team".