"I Fail To Understand...": Sachin Tendulkar slate India's WTC Final Team Selection

ASHOK VIHAR, India - June 12, 2023 - PRLog -- As has happened on many previous occasions, the Indian batting crumbled when it was needed the most. Time and again, the opening batting line-up has let them down in ICC knockouts. India's famous Test batting quartet of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane looked bad in their shadows.

But while many believed that India lost the match or lost the game on the very first day as the batting collapsed when India dropped the world's No. 1 Test bowler Ravichandran Ashwin from their playing XI.

For two hours of cloudy conditions, Ashwin was deemed unfit to play, a decision that was heavily criticized around the world. Even Sachin Tendulkar was surprised by the fact that he found it hard to believe that a bowler of Ashwin's caliber could not be used in pacer-friendly conditions.

"Congratulations to Team Australia on winning the #WTCFinal. @stevesmith49 and @travishead34 set a solid foundation on Day one itself to tilt the game in their favour," Tendulkar tweeted. "There were some good moments for Team India, but I fail to understand the exclusion of @ashwinravi99 in the playing XI, who is currently the number one Test bowler in the world."

Before the WTC final, Tendulkar had spoken about how the combination of Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja could do wonders for India. Tendulkar, who insisted that the oval nature of the surface during the match would aid spin, was something the Indian team, which included coach Rahul Dravid and captain Rohit Sharma, could not manage. Mahan also reiterated Ashwin's dominance against left-handed batsmen, which again neither Rohit nor Dravid felt was enough to give him a place in the XI.

"India had to bat big in the first innings to stay in the game, but they couldn't. There were some good moments for Team India, but I fail to understand the exclusion of Ashwin in the playing XI, who is currently the number one Test bowler in the world," Tendulkar tweeted on Sunday.

"Like I had mentioned before the match, skilful spinners don't always rely on turning tracks, they use drift in the air and bounce off the surface to disguise their variations. Not to forget, Australia had 5 left-handers out of their top 8 batters." For the record, Ashwin has picked up 61 wickets in 13 Tests in the two-year cycle of the second WTC edition.