Former India opener Gautam Gambhir has lavished praise on Ravichandran Ashwin, widely regarded as one of the premier spinners in modern cricket. During a recent appearance on Ashwin's YouTube channel, Gambhir discussed various cricketing topics and expressed his disappointment that India did not fully recognize Ashwin's potential with the bat, particularly in ODIs and T20Is.

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Gautam Gambhir heaps massive praise on R Ashwin

Gautam Gambhir emphasized R Ashwin's capability to excel as a genuine all-rounder not only in Tests but also in white-ball formats. He argued that Ashwin should have been given opportunities to bat higher up the order for India, at positions five or six, or even as high as four. According to Gambhir, this oversight is something India missed out on, especially now that Ashwin is nearing the end of his career and the chance to promote him up the batting order has passed with the emergence of young talents.

"A bit disappointed, this country hasn't seen the potential which you had with the bat, especially in white ball cricket. I remember a long time back I said this you should be playing batting for India at number five or six or probably at number four. But yes that is one thing which probably this country has missed out," Gautam Gambhir told Ravichandran Ashwin's 'Kutti Stories With Ash'.

“They have seen the potential of you with the ball what you have done in Test cricket but probably haven't seen the potential you had with the bat,” Gambhir added. 

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Ashwin has represented India in 100 Tests, 116 ODIs, and 65 T20Is. He has scored five centuries for the country in the longest format and has reached the 50-run mark on 14 occasions. In ODIs, Ashwin has one half-century. He is currently involved in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season with Rajasthan Royals. Ashwin has batted up the order for RR a few times in the past couple of seasons.

With the ball, Ashwin has picked up 500 wickets in Tests, 156 in ODIs, and 72 in T20Is. Ashwin is India's second-highest wicket-taker in red-ball cricket, only behind Anil Kumble, who has 619 wickets in 132 Test matches.  

Ashwin will next be seen in action during the IPL 2024 Eliminator between Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on Wednesday.