Former Indian Test all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin admitted it was always going to be difficult for Bhuvneshwar Kumar to get a place in India’s T20I team despite his prolific performances in IPL 2026. Ashwin said the selectors are backing young players across all three formats and they had set a precedent after a veteran bowler like Mohammed Shami was not picked after recovering his injury.

Kumar ended IPL 2026 with 28 scalps in 16 matches at an average of 17.89 and an economy rate of 7.95 and thus played a key role in taking RCB to glory for the second consecutive time.

Ashwin said on ESPN Cricinfo, “It was always going to be difficult for Bhuvneshwar Kumar because of the precedent set with Mohammed Shami, who didn’t make the cut after his injury. From that, it was clear that they were looking at younger bowlers. That’s why Prince Yadav has got a look in, and I like that. It’s saying that they want to move away from all the so-called old crop of seniors.”

Ashwin said experienced players should also get their chances after reworking on their game at the top level.

“I would love to think otherwise also because T20 cricket deserves experience, reworking on your skills, and adapting time and again. So hopefully they revisit that aspect of selections where if there is a senior cricketer reworking on his game, they must be given an opportunity to come back.”

Meanwhile, Prince Yadav scalped 16 wickets in 14 matches of IPL 2026.

Squads for Ireland and England series: Shreyas Iyer (C), Tilak Varma (VC), Ravi Bishnoi, Abhishek Sharma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Sanju Samson, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Ishan Kishan, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Shivam Dube, Varun Chakaravarthy, Prince Yadav, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi