Sachin Tendulkar slams India’s WTC final team selection. The exclusion of senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin from India’s playing XI for the World Test Championship final perplexed the legendary Sachin Tendulkar because a spinner of his caliber does not require favorable conditions to be effective.
Australia defeated India by 209 runs in the World Twenty20 final, and coach Rahul Dravid defended Ashwin’s absence from the XI, claiming that overcast conditions forced them to select a fourth specialist seamer, despite the opposition line-up consisting of five left-handers.
The weather was perfect all five days, and Australia raced to 469 in the first innings, effectively shutting the door on India.
“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.
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As Sachin Tendulkar slams India’s WTC final team selection, he found it difficult to believe that a bowler of Ashwin’s caliber can’t be used in conditions that are seamer-friendly.
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“As I had mentioned before the match, skillful 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.
