‘Ashwin has class’: Skipper Rohit Sharma

Indian captain Rohit Sharma on Tuesday did not divulge any details on the status of injured Axar Patel but said the rhythm Ravichandran Ashwin showed in the first two ODIs has assured him of backup options for the World Cup in case of an eventualityPatel had suffered a left quadricep injury ahead of the Asia Cup final against Sri Lanka earlier this month and is currently recuperating at the NCAThe performance of Ashwin in the first two ODIs against Australia has also sparked the debate whether the veteran offspinner should make it to Indiarsquos 15member squad if Patel fails to recover in timeSept 28 the cutoff dateThe cutoff date for teams to finalise their 15member squad is September 28ldquoHe has got the class He has got the experience of playing the sport and handling the pressure It is just that he has not played ODIs in the last year or sordquo said during the prematch press meetRohit SharmaldquoBut you cannot take away the class and the experience the individual has over the years and in the last couple of games we saw how well he bowledrdquo Rohit saidRohit expressed satisfaction over Ashwinrsquos effort and said it indeed gives them an option to fall back uponldquoHe has got a lot of variation up his sleeve and in case there is a chance we can look at a lot of things Hopefully the way things are at this point it does well for us because we have got all the backups readyldquoWe have given them enough gametimerdquo he saidAlso Read Rohit Sharma looks at Ashwin as a matchwinner Saba KarimRohit who was rested for the first two ODIs against the Aussies expressed happiness over the fact that the Indian team has been able to overcome challenges with successldquoI am very happy with the last 10 ODIs that we played A lot of guys came back into form by scoring lots of runs and the bowlers are taking lots of wickets In the last few games we saw the guys who came back from injuries have proven their fitnessrdquo he saidldquoWe are pretty much settled in how we stand where we stand Now it is about taking this whole situation forward in the best possible wayrdquo he addedFive players unavailableRohit said five players including inform Shubman Gill will not be available for selection for the third ODI against Australia as the squad has been hit by a viral sickness and some players have opted to return homeWhile Gill is rested Axar Patel is recuperating at NCA from the left quadricep injury that he suffered during the Asia Cup ldquoWe have got a lot of players who are sick and not available a lot of players have personal problems so they have gone home and a few of the guys have been rested as wellldquoWe have got 13 players at this point in timerdquo said Rohit during the prematch press meet ldquoObviously Gill has been rested Shami Hardik and Shardul have all gone home again personal things Axar obviously is not available for this gamerdquo Rohit saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever