Gautam Gambhir bats for Ravichandran Ashwin's inclusion in India's limited-overs setup

Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir has said it is really unfortunate that veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is not in Team India's limited-over scheme of things despite performing exceptionally well in the longest format of the game. R Ashwin has not played white-ball cricket for India since mid-2017 after the emergence of wrist-spinners Kuldeep Yadav, and, Yuzvendra Chahal and has been making his presence felt in the longest format of the game. 

When it comes to his Test career, 'Ash' has five centuries and 394 wickets in the 76 matches that he has played so far. 

'Very unfortunate': Gautam Gambhir

"Someone who is coming close to taking 400 wickets and the same time getting five Test hundreds and still not being part of the white-ball scheme of things is very unfortunate. He is just a class act,” said Gambhir while speaking on Star Sports.

“He is just a quality bowler and his subtle variations. The amount of cricket he has played and the longevity he has played with and still the kind of impact he has had, it is just unbelievable,” the 2011 World Cup winner added.

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Ravichandran Ashwin's  limited-overs career

Ravi Ashwin has been India's Test specialist for the last few years. He had last played white-ball cricket of India back in July 2017 when West Indies had hosted India in a one-off T20I match.

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The senior offie has 150 scalps from 111 One Day Internationals and 52 wickets in 46 T20I matches. Coincidentally, his last appearance in an ICC event had also come in the same year i.e. 2017 during the ICC Champions Trophy where the Men In Blue made it to the finals but suffered a bitter defeat by a mammoth 180 runs at the hands of arch-rivals Pakistan. The off-spinner had a forgettable day as he finished with figures of 0/70 from 10 overs.

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