Former Indian batting great Sachin Tendulkar expressed his surprise at Ravichandran Ashwin's exclusion for the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia at the Kennington Oval. Tendulkar strongly suggested that Ashwin should've played at the Oval, keeping in mind the number of left-handed batters in Australia's batting line-up. He reasoned that the off-spinner is skilful enough to trouble the batters regardless of any assistance from the wicket.
Team India went with four specialist seamers, with Ravindra Jadeja as their lone spinner. However, it backfired as they conceded 469 in the first innings after inserting Australia in. Australia's off-spinner Nathan Lyon taking five scalps in the Test, including four in the second, further proved Ashwin's inclusion.
The 50-year-old took to his official Twitter handle, stating that Travis Head and Steve Smith set up the match for Australia with their unbroken 251-run stand on day one. He wrote:
"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. 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 @ashwinravi99 in the playing XI, who is currently the number one Test bowler in the world."
"Australia had 5 left-handers out of their top 8 batters" - Sachin Tendulkar
Tendulkar further opined that Ashwin is a skilled enough bowler and wouldn't have needed the pitch to make a difference, adding:
"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."
India started day five at 164-3, needing 280 more runs to scale the highest run-chase in Test history. However, they lost the remaining wickets in the final session, allowing Australia to lift the mace.
