Rohit Sharma looks at Ravichandran Ashwin as a match-winner – Saba Karim

Rohit Sharma will lead the Indian team in the World Cup in less than 20 days from now and with the Australia series lined up as the final dress rehearsal ahead of the tournament, there is one small aspect that he will like to keep an eye on. The bilateral series against Australia will see Ravichandran Ashwin return to the ODI fold after a long time.

While Ashwin's return is the headline act, a bunch of senior players have been rested for the first two ODIs including Rohit, and KL Rahul will lead the team in his absence. 

Former BCCI general manager, Saba Karim shared his thoughts on how Ashwin's inclusion certainly bears good news for the Indian cricket team. 

Speaking on JioTV, Karim said, “I think Rohit Sharma looks at Ravichandran Ashwin as a match-winner and he’s very clear in the kind of approach he wants to portray in white-ball cricket. Now with the World Cup coming up, he understands the dynamics of one-day cricket quite well and knows that he has to pick players who have that kind of an attacking mindset.”

He further added, “He also knows that in his bowling lineup, he needs to have out of six, at least five wicket-taking options and if he has Ashwin in the eleven, then that attacking option is available. If you look at all the other players who are in the reserve – they all have that attacking mindset. So, I think Rohit Sharma wants to continue with this aggressive approach that we saw the Indian team play in the Asian challenge.”