Former India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has questioned the quality of some of the teams playing in the domestic circuit. This is an aspect which has been bothering the cricket fraternity, though not many have raised the issue.
The 39-year-old pointed out the big gulf between some of the teams in first-class cricket, leading to one-sided contests in most matches.
Playing for Bihar, Vaibhav Suryavanshi smashed 190 off 84 balls in the Vijay Hazare Trophy on Wednesday, but the quality of Arunachal’s attack remains in doubt.
“Huge applause for Vaibhav Suryavanshi. But I again want to ask a question. There is a huge divide, chalk and cheese, in terms of quality with some teams. It becomes very lop-sided with some teams and there is no contest at all. It is not an ideal contest,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
“Credit to Vaibhav for his performance. He is doing what he has to do. But if we are serious about teams like Arunachal Pradesh becoming good sides, what will this do to their confidence?,” Ashwin said.
His comments came after Bihar racked up 574 runs in 50 overs in their Vijay Hazare Trophy on Wednesday, breaking the record for the highest score in men’s List A cricket.
Ashwin also praised Ishan Kishan for his performance against Karnataka
on Wednesday.
“Everyone goes through good and bad times but Ishan Kishan had a challenging time. He came and then was out from the team, he took a break. He made a double hundred in one-day but never made a comeback. He scored a hundred in the IPL but then did not have a great IPL.
“He played well in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and got into the T20 World Cup squad. Now he is batting in the middle-order slot in the Vijay Hazare and scored a 33-
ball hundred. It shows what confidence and form can do to a person when time aligns,” he said.
