Ashwin drops major 'World Cup' remark in verdict on India's batting depth conundrum as Rahul Dravid left concerned

One of the primary reasons behind India suffering a humiliating defeat to West Indies in the T20I series has been their batting depth. Throughout their five matches in the recently-concluded contest, India went in with four No.11s owing to their strategy of having a more diverse bowling attack. But the strategy backfired, costing them a first ever bilateral series (minimum 3 matches) defeat to West Indies since 2006. While the timing of the defeat left head coach Rahul Dravid concerned with Asia Cup and World Cup around the corner, Ravichandran Ashwin delivered a major verdict on the conundrum.

Speaking to the press moments after India's eight-wicket defeat in Lauderhill on Sunday, where India had managed to set a target of just 166 riding on the sole effort of a 65-run knock from Suryakumar Yadav, Dravid admitted that their hands were tied given the nature of the squad and the options available, and added that the issue will be addressed as the team now stands a fortnight away from leaving for the Asia Cup.

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"I think in terms of our squad here, probably it didn't allow us the flexibility in some ways to be able to change the combinations a little bit," he said after the final T20I. "But I think going forward, we've got to look at certain areas in which we can get better. Finding depth in our batting has been an area we are trying to address. We are trying to do the best we possibly can but that's certainly an area we can look at, how we cannot weaken our bowling attack but ensure we have a certain amount of depth in batting."

If Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul can make a comeback for the Asia Cup, India have their top 7 in the playing XI intact with Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja as the all-rounders and the likes of Shubman Gill, captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli forming the top order. But it is the tail that leaves India concerned. While India featured Shardul Thakur as a No.8 in the ODI series, lack of options left India with Kuldeep Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi and Arshdeep Singh as play the role in the T20I contest.

Addressing the issue on his YouTube channel last week, Ashwin backed Thakur as the No.8 for World Cup, but admitted that if India pick both Kuldeep and Yuzvendra Chahal in the XI, then the problem will persist.

"You don't want your tail to start so early, and that's why you need someone like Shardul Thakur to come and smash a few balls coming in at No. 8. But you should play your best batters and bowlers to win a match. At the same time, if you needed 36 to win from 30 balls when you are six down, you should have the ability to close down such games as well. So, that is the conundrum that India will go into ahead of the World Cup. If they play Kuldeep and Chahal together, then it gets to a situation where Kuldeep has to bat at No. 8," he said.

India do have another spin-bowling all-rounder in Axar Patel to pick, but with him having the same bowling variety as that of Jadeja, he might have to sit out to make way for Kuldeep or Chahal.