What has become as significant as Dhoni's induction as a mentor is a big rebound of R Ashwin in the Indian squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup. For Ashwin, his ticket for the world cup has balmed a huge relief for him in his years of wait and pain. Amid being an ace spinner and game-changing all-rounder, Ashwin had been put as a Test player and he recently had missed the opportunity for playing against England. If you have seen the visuals of Ashwin sitting in a stadium as a spectator with the lines of worry on his face, you would probably know how this induction means to him. 

Ashwin had played limited-overs for India for the last time in 2017 and he waited for four years to get into the battalion of Men In Blue. Despite several tournaments after 2017, Ashwin was kept away from the squad and was levied with passive and incomplete induction. While Ashwin was confined to Test cricket these years, he had sparkled in the series and proved to be one of the kingpins of Indian cricket. He lastly played the ODI and T20 in June and July 2017 respectively against West Indies and when he made up to the Indian squad after four years for the T20 World Cup, he has gone emotional and shared the quote that he penned in 2017. 

The quote was an apparent display of how he missed the Men In Blue squad. It is obviously the first time that Ashwin has shared his quote to express his happiness over winning a space again in the Indian squad.  The quote reads, "Every tunnel has light at the end of it. But only those in the tunnel who believe in the light will live to see it." Sharing this quote on social media hours after getting inducted into the Indian squad for the T20 World Cup, Ashwin wrote, "2017: I wrote this quote down a million times in my diary before putting this up on the wall! Quotes that we read and admire have more power when we internalise them and apply in life. Happiness and gratitude are the only 2 words that define me now.#t20worldcup2021". 

On Wednesday, BCCI Secretary Jay Shah has unveiled the Indian squad and put out two big pieces of news - Dhoni's induction as a mentor for the Indian team and Ashwin's comeback. In what has become a crucial overhaul, the BCCI has left out Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal this time from the squad and roped in Ashwin and he will be leading India's spin campaign with the arms of Rahul Chahar, Axar Patel, and Varun Chakravarthy. Calling Ashwin back, the BCCI has displayed that he is the need of the hour as building up the spin bowling department becomes essential for India to play in the pitches of the UAE amid enjoying a familiarity with them. 

Ashwin is one of the experienced spinners of India and his track record had advocated the BCCI to rely on him to power up the department while introducing newbies to the global event. Though India negated the prospect for four years, he has been a prominent spinner in the Indian Premier League and since IPL 2020, no spinner has taken more wickets than Ashwin and he poses a fidelity of knowing the pitches in the UAE. Ashwin has also become a crucial spoiler of the left-hand batters in scoring runs in the IPL and his performances in Test and IPL had come in hand to the BCCI that he is an asset that can't be written off from the international tournaments. 

With Ashwin's inclusion, India will play the T20 World Cup with five spinners and three pacers. The BCCI has engineered such a team with the predictions that the pitches in the Arab countries would go in favour of spinners. In the four years of omission, Ashwin has missed 63 T20Is for India but he surged to be a paramount spinner in the IPL, where he is currently playing for the Delhi capitals. Earlier this march, Ashwin said that he found questions about his return to India's white-ball cricket laughable and expressed confidence that he would deliver a game-breaking performance if he got a prospect to play in the limited-overs. The reports quoted the Indian team selector saying that Ashwin's performance in the IPL is the reason he has found a place in the Indian squad. 

On the other hand, MS Dhoni's induction as a mentor has surprised the Indian players. Dhoni has announced his retirement from International Cricket last year and he is back with the cap of mentorship to provide support and direction to the Indian team in the upcoming T20 World Cup. In a press conference on Wednesday, BCCI Secretary Jay Shah has unveiled the squad during which he announced, "Former India Captain MS Dhoni to mentor the team for the T20 World Cup." Shah added, "I spoke to him (Dhoni) in Dubai. He agreed to be the mentor for WT20 only and I discussed it with my colleagues and we all are on the same page." 

With the new role, Dhoni will enter the dressing room to cheer up the Indian team with his nuantic-cricketing strategies. For Dhoni, mentorship is another feather to his versatile cap that shined both in blue and yellow. On Wednesday, the BCCI has unveiled the Indian squad for the T20 world cup and Indian ace spinner R Ashwin comes back to the squad of limited-overs after four years. Here's the 15-member Indian squad - Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma (Vice-Captain), KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (Wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Ishan Kishan, Rahul Chahar, and Varun Chakravarthy. Shreyas Iyer, Shardul Thakur, and Deepak Chahar have been inducted as standby players. 

2017: I wrote this quote down a million times in my diary before putting this up on the wall! Quotes that we read and admire have more power when we internalise them and apply in life.

Happiness and gratitude are the only 2 words that define me now.🙏 #t20worldcup2021 pic.twitter.com/O0L3y6OBLl

— Mask up and take your vaccine🙏🙏🇮🇳 (@ashwinravi99) September 8, 2021