India made the bold call of dropping Ravichandran Ashwin from their XI of the WTC Final 2023 against Australia and instead went with Shardul Thakur for the ultimate Test.
The WTC Final 2023 kicked off on Wednesday at The Oval in London. The talks heading into the game were around India’s bowling combination, more so fixated on Ravichandran Ashwin.
R Ashwin had played in the World Test Championship Final 2021 against New Zealand and was arguably India’s best bowler. But he was dropped from all 5 Tests against England with the management preferring Shardul Thakur.
Now, again, India have gone with Thakur over Ashwin, the man with 474 Test wickets, the number 1 ranked Test bowler and the second-ranked Test all-rounder.
In the ongoing WTC 2021/23 cycle, Ashwin was arguably the best bowler of this cycle. He the third-most number of wickets- 61 – at an average of only 19, much better than Lyon’s average of 26.
Rohit Sharma cited that they have picked Shardul Thakur as the 4th seamer based on the overcast and pace-friendly conditions at The Oval, and that it was tough to leave out a veteran match-winner in Ashwin from the side.
At the toss Rohit Sharma said: “We are going to bowl. Just the conditions and also the weather being overcast. I don’t think the pitch will change too much. You have to play good cricket and come out on top. Four seamers and one spinner. The spinner is Jadeja. It’s always tough (to leave Ashwin), he’s been a match-winner for us over the course of so many years. But you got to do the things that’s needed for the team and eventually, we came up with that decision. “
Harsha Bhogle’s tweet on India’s decision to leave out Ravichandran Ashwin
This decision by Rohit Sharma and Team India hasn’t gone down well with a majority of their fans.
Even renowned commentator Harsha Bhogle has said that it was a “bit of a shame” that R Ashwin wasn’t playing the World Test Championship Final 2023, though he admitted the conditions were skewed toward the pacers than spinners.
“A bit of a shame that the best bowler in this #WTC cycle can’t get a game. But the conditions are completely different to the ones in which India qualified,” Harsha Bhogle tweeted.
