Ravichandran Ashwin says Suryakumar Yadav's cameo in the opening T20I was a key World Cup boost, while backing India's World Cup combination and calling Arshdeep Singh a marquee bowler.
Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav got a monkey off his back with a 22-ball 32 in the opening T20I, said former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.
Surya came into the series battling serious form issues, averaging only over 13 in the last 21 matches.
Speaking on his YouTube channel Ash ki Baat, Ashwin also said Surya's knock was a 'big positive'.
'It is a monkey off the back. A lot of people were talking about Suryakumar's batting and his form and all of that. In all honesty, in T20 cricket, you don't have to aim for consistency.
'What I liked was that he got those runs. He looked in good touch today. If a batter wants to look to get runs, they would have looked to get a fifty. But Surya did not do that. This team has a theme, they will look to keep scoring and hitting. He looked in his element. He looked good and this is a big positive for him.'
In his last 20 innings, this marked only the third time he touched the 30-run mark.
'Break to reflect upon' for Kuldeep
Ashwin feels that this is the Indian team combination that will be carried to the T20 World Cup this year, and says he does not want Arshdeep Singh to be rotated with Harshit Rana, calling the former a 'marquee bowler who cannot be left out'.
'Maybe there will surely be a conversation to bring in a bowler, seeing how (Shivam) Dube's bowling goes. But he got three overs today. So they are backing his bowling, and I think there are conversations around him bowling. This is probably the combination,' he added.
Ashwin also said that after a poor ODI series against the Kiwis, in which Kuldeep Yadav took just three wickets at an average of above 60 and an economy rate of 7.28, his missing the first T20I is a 'break to reflect upon'.
'But I am a big fan (of Kuldeep). You will have to get strong as a pack in T20 cricket and address the strengths somewhere else. If you do not have Jasprit Bumrah or someone else, then you have to address with a bit of batting depth.
'But in this team, you are getting runs in the powerplay, Hardik (Pandya) is scoring, you have seven bowling options. I would like to play Bumrah, Arshdeep, Varun (Chakravarthy), and Kuldeep. But if it is like today, then it is absolutely fine,' he said.
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