Ace spinner R Ashwin has been superb form in Test cricket, which has resulted in calls for him being brought back into the white-ball set-up as well.
India captain Virat Kohli however said a few days ago that they already have an offspin-bowling allrounder Washington Sundar who was doing well and accommodating another would disrupt the balance of the XI.
While Ashwin isn't really fussed about the conversation, at the India Today Conclave 2021, he said he is content with his position but would put in game-changing performances in white-ball cricket if allowed a chance.
"A lot of times people tell these lines on leadership forums and dialogues and several motivational quotes where they say you need to compete with yourself," he said.
"But I definitely believe I have found a balance and learnt in life about how I must be competing with myself and be at complete peace when I'm competing with myself because when some of these articles or questions get asked about my ODI return or T20 return, what is your ambition, are your white-ball dreams still there and all these things, I find those questions are really laughable.
"I am totally at peace and extremely happy with the kind of cricket and life I'm leading right now that given an opportunity I will make a game-breaking performance which I'm almost certain about because of the kind of space I find myself in. So what questions people have to ask, what opinions people have, I'm not worried about at all. As of now, every single day I play the game out there on the park, I want to leave a smile on everyone's face and mine, most importantly."
Ashwin, who recently picked his 400th Test wicket, has been a trump card for India at home and also played a crucial role in the series win in Australia.
The control he showed over his bowling prompted former India opener Gautam Gambhir to wonder on ESPNcricinfo about why he wasn't playing in other formats for India. "It's actually a shame that he hasn't played white-ball cricket for the last two years after winning what nine Man-of-the-Series awards [in Test cricket]," he said.
Kohli, for his part, defended the work his incumbent offspinner has been doing since his debut in 2017 - which is also the year when Ashwin last played a white-ball game.
"Washington has been doing really well for us, so you can't have two players of the same discipline playing in one squad," he said on the eve of the first T20I against England, "Unless, Washi has a drastically horrible season and things go south for him…the question has to be asked with some kind of logic as well. You suggest where you would add Ash and play him in the team when someone like Washington already does that job for the team. So, it's easy to ask the question but you should have a logical explanation to it yourself."
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