Batting legend Sunil Gavaskar has slammed the Indian team management over the non-selection of veteran off-spinner R Ashwin in the playing XI for the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023 final against Australia.
Gavaskar’s comment came a day after India succumbed to a heavy 209-run defeat in the marquee clash at The Oval.
Ashwin, who occupies the numero uno spot in the ICC Test bowling rankings, was left out of the playing XI as India fielded four pacers and a spinner in Ravindra Jadeja considering the overcast conditions and green-tinged pitch.
The move to exclude Ashwin sparked an outrage in the cricket fraternity and Gavaskar found it baffling as well.
“No other top-class Indian cricketer in the modern era has been treated as bafflingly as Ashwin has been. Tell me if there was a No. 1 ICC-ranked batter in the team, would he have been left out of the playing XI just because in earlier times he had not got runs on a grassy pitch or if he had not scored runs on a dry spin-friendly pitch? Definitely not,” Gavaskar wrote in his column for Mid-Day.
“This is not being wise after the event, but a pattern that has been seen over the years. But for this ‘hard to understand thinking’ he would have already played more than 100 Test matches.
“Even if India were to win, it should not blind us to the treatment given to Ashwin and whatever the explanation that is given, the bowling results in the match where India have been asked to chase 444 tells us that dropping him was not the right call to make,” he added.
What surprised Gavaskar the most is Ashwin not getting considered in the playing XI even though the Aussies had five left-handers in their batting line-up.
“India dropped Ravichandran Ashwin, the No.1 ranked bowler in the game, according to the ICC rankings. The Australians had five left-handers in the team and while one leftie - Travis Head - scored a quickfire century in the first innings, another southpaw Alex Carey got a 48 in the first innings and an unbeaten 66 in the second,” Gavaskar stated.
“During that second innings effort, he also put on 93 runs with another left-hander Mitchell Starc at a time when India were looking to dismiss Australia cheaply in the second innings. If Ashwin had been in the team, who knows what could have happened? With the bat too, he could have contributed,” he further remarked.
It is pertinent to mention here that Ashwin finished the WTC 2021-23 cycle with 61 wickets from 13 Tests. Overall, he has 474 Test scalps to his name from 92 matches.
