Former India all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin has snubbed Jasprit Bumrah while naming two biggest threats for opponent teams from India’s T20I side. Bumrah has been a vital part of the Indian team across all three formats ever since his debut in 2016. The speedster was also adjudged Player of the Tournament in India’s T20 World Cup 2024 triumph with 15 wickets to his name.
However, despite his remarkable exploits in the format, Ashwin feels Bumrah isn’t the threat that the opponent teams need to counter, it’s Varun Chakravarthy and Abhishek Sharma. Praising the two stars, Ashwin mentioned that opponents need to get past both players to win the T20 World Cup 2026.
“If any team wants to win the T20 World Cup in India, they will have to master two factors. I was saying until now that handling Jasprit Bumrah. But I will say right now, the way I have seen Tim David handle Varun Chakravarthy, I am thinking teams will gun for Abhishek Sharma and Varun Chakravarthy if they have to get past India,” Ashwin said on his Youtube Channel.
Ashwin also mentioned that teams might target Abhishek Sharma with the same short-ball strategy as Australia is using against him.
“Against Abhishek Sharma, they will see this plan Australia has used against him in this series, and they will imbibe that. Whoever is coming for the World Cup will prepare similarly against Varun Chakravarthy because that will give them the leverage in that World Cup,” he added.
