“Are Sanju and Abhishek bad players?”

Team India legend Ravichandran Ashwin gave a strong statement post the shocking whitewash in Ireland. The Men in Blue suffered a 0-2 defeat in the two-match T20I series in Ireland.

Following the loss, fans questioned why teen sensation Vaibhav Suryavanshi was not given an opportunity to play. However, Ashwin reckoned that two defeats do not make Abhishek Sharma or Sanju Samson bad players. He reflected that a player must not be in the XI only because of stardom, recent past, or external factors.

The Indian legend questioned who should be dropped for Suryavanshi to come in and added that a coach cannot have favorites among the three.

“We lost two games. So are Sanju and Abhishek bad players? We know what they can do. A team should have to play a player because the team needs the player. A player should not be played because he has to play because of other reasons, his stardom, or what has happened over the last 3-4 months. If Suryavanshi is in the XI in England tomorrow, a lot of people will switch on the TV. But who will you drop? A team’s coach has to look at all three like a father. He cannot have a priority or favorites,” he said on his YouTube channel.

Abhishek had scores of 49 and 0 in both games, while Samson made just 5 and 0. However, they played a key role in India’s 2026 T20 World Cup triumph and have been an integral part of the side over the last two years.

Ravichandran Ashwin on India not playing Vaibhav Suryavanshi

Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s non-inclusion in the playing XI sparked outrage among Indian fans. However, Ravichandran Ashwin reckoned that the decision to play could not be taken only on the basis of his being everyone’s favorite.

“Just because Vaibhav is 15 or 16, you cannot make a decision that he is a small kid and is my favorite. The youngest kid in the house is always the favorite. But that is not how it works. You need to make the right decision,” he said.

Ashwin expressed that India should have included Suryavanshi in the squad, which they did. He added that there was nothing wrong with him having to carry drinks despite being a superstar, and that he would have learned a lot simply by being in the squad.

“I am still holding onto it. Give Suryavanshi some time. But then I said you don’t have a choice. The way he played the IPL, you need to give him a chance somewhere. I am still saying he should be in the squad, and they did that. And it is not degrading. People say you got him to serve drinks. Do you know how much learning he would have gotten? From when did these ethos change? I used to be a ball boy before, too,” he stated.

Further, the Indian legend also presented a scenario where had Suryavanshi debuted in such conditions in Ireland, coming on the back of having played on flat tracks in the IPL, and failed in both games, opinions on the batter may have changed. Therefore, he stressed that watching from the sidelines would allow him to learn from the mistakes the other batters made in such conditions.

“Let’s say you gave Suryavanshi a debut here, under these conditions, the wickets were not true. If he failed in both games, will this be reversed? Everyone would tell he can score in the IPL, and in sporting conditions, he does not know how to play. In these conditions, if you play in the same T20 template, there are chances to get out. That is why I said sitting out and watching is not bad. You are learning from somebody else’s experience. Today, a player is good before the toss, and after losing the match, the same player becomes bad. It is not like that. This is cricket,” he expressed.

India will now play five T20Is in England beginning Wednesday, July 1. It will be interesting to see whether Suryavanshi will debut in England and how many games he will feature in.