Ashwin welcomes inclusion of rookies for World T20

Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on Friday welcomed the inclusion of Indian rookies Jaspreet Bumrah and Hardik Pandya in the squad for the upcoming Asia Cup and World T20, saying that they deserved to get a national call-up.

"I think Bumrah and Pandya did really well. We won that series that pretty much gave us indication how good they were. I am very happy for them," Ashwin told reporters here.

Talking about his side's strategy for the T20 pinnacle tournament, the 29-year-old premier spinner said that the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side, which has recently concluded their tour to Australia with historic T20 series win, need to immediately adjust to the home conditions before the World Cup.

"We have to be back in India conditions. Somehow, the Indian conditions are very different; the grounds are smaller than what it was in Australia. Coming back to India we will have to match up again with the ground sizes, the wicket and the pace. It's pretty much like going to be getting ourselves and try to take as many lessons as possible from Asia Cup before the World Cup," Ashwin added.

Describing the World T20 format as 'explosive', Ashwin believes that every team would have an equal chance of winning, adding that the one team who would gain momentum would do pretty well.

Earlier, the BCCI, which selected the same squad for both the events, named Dhoni as the skipper.

Meanwhile, rookie left-arm spinner Pawan Negi and all-rounder Pandya were also included in the squad.

Mohammed Shami, who was out of action since the 2015 World Cup semi-final against Australia due to knee and hamstring injuries, was also recalled in the team.

The Asia Cup is slated to be held between February 24 to March 6, followed by the World T20, starting from March 15 in India.