Exclusive: Abhishek Nayar hails Indian batters, opens up on Ashwin vs Axar debate on First Sports

India have been at their dominant best in the build-up to the ICC World Cup that they are set to host between 5 October and 19 November. Not only did they win the Asia Cup for an eighth time in style, thrashing Asian powerhouses Pakistan and Sri Lanka along the way, they have also been clinical in the ongoing three-match ODI series against Australia. The Men in Blue have clinched the series with a game to spare, dishing out clinical victories in Mohali and Indore. And former India cricketer Abhishek Nayar was particularly effusive in his praise for the way the Indian batters have conducted themselves so far in the series. Speaking to Firstpost Sports Editor Rupha Ramani on the latest episode of First Sports, the cricketer-turned-commentator added that the Australian bowlers were made to look like a club attack at one point. “Initially when you looked at the pitch, it looked like a good pitch but did seem like it was on the slower side, not the typical Indore pitch. Very excited because there were questions about how this middle order is going to shape up after Mohali. Shreyas Iyer form. Suryakumar Yadav and can he do it again. “Just to sit there and watch everyone perform the way they did and bat the way they did with the dominance with which the Indian batters took on the Australian faster bowlers and spinners was terrific. At one point it felt like it was a club side bowling to the Indian batters. That’s how good the Indian batters were batting in the centre,” Nayar said on the ‘Mic Up’ segment of the episode. Watch:

Also making a return to the Indian side in the ongoing series is veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who only got a look-in after an injury to left-arm spinner Axar Patel. Nayar felt Ashwin’s return to ODIs for the first time since January, 2022 has only increased the headache for the Indian team management. “The question about Ashwin is interesting. It’s not about the skill. It’s not about whether he can perform. The most important part here is — how is he going to find a place? Because the initial squad that the Indian team announced was with Axar Patel. The only way Ashwin gets a look in is if suddenly the team management feels like, ‘Maybe it’s not Axar, we need that off-spinner’. There will be left-handers. We saw David Warner go from left to right and from right to left because of Ravichandran Ashwin. “He has that knack to get the players to think while he thinks a lot as well. It’s a tough call for the Indian selectors and they have got plenty of headaches already. I honestly feel having an off-spinner in the team is terrific, but that’s almost going back on the decision you’ve already made with Axar. Because when the thought process of picking Axar would have been made, you would have justified it saying we don’t necessarily need that off-spinner, we need a left-arm spinner as a back-up to Ravindra Jadeja,” Nayar said on the show. When asked about an Ashwin vs Axar shootout for the World Cup squad, Nayar went with the former. “It would be very harsh on Axar. I would initially be tempted for a Yuzvendra Chahal to be in the squad as my third spinner. But now that Yuzi is obviously not in the scheme of things, I believe you would need an off-spinner. With teams having left-handers, you will need an off-spinner who can bowl to right-handers. He has the ability to go both ways. From my point of view, I would have Ashwin in my team,” added the Kolkata Knight Riders assistant coach.