Sunil Gavaskar Slams Rohit and Co. for Excluding No.1 Bowler Ashwin in WTC Final

Famous cricketer Sunil Gavaskar slammed India for choosing senior spinner Umesh Yadav to play Australia in the WTC final after Australia won the first day of the Ultimate Test thanks to performances from Travis Head and Steve Smith. The WTC final between Team India and Pat Cummins and Company is back at The Oval, and Rohit Sharma’s team made a bold statement by choosing a squad without Ravichandran Ashwin for the summit encounter.

Gavaskar criticizes India’s Ashwin exclusion in WTC final

When Australia toured India for the prestigious Border-Gavaskar Trophy in the second World T20 Championship, No. 1 Test bowler Ashwin was the master of destruction. Ricky Ponting, a former captain of Australia, said the Asian giants had made a mistake in the WTC final, contrary to the opinion of legendary cricketer Sourav Ganguly who claimed India lost a trick by leaving out a match-winner like Ashwin.

The legendary batsman Gavaskar expressed the same critiques of Rohit and co. for leaving Ashwin out of the WTC top game as he assessed on India’s performance on Stumps Day 1. In an interview with Star Sports, former Indian captain Gavaskar slammed veteran spinner Umesh for underwhelming after replacing Ashwin in the Indian XI against Australia.

“India missed a trick by not letting Ravi Ashwin play”, says Gavaskar

Gavaskar said “India missed a trick by not letting Ravi Ashwin play. He’s the No. 1 Ranked bowler. You don’t look at the pitch for players like him. You are playing World Test Championships final, and you don’t pick the number one bowler in Test cricket format. This decision from Team India is beyond my level of understanding. Obviously I would have picked him in place of Umesh Yadav. He looks out of rhythm and was out of action.” During India’s tour of England, Ashwin was also disregarded by the Indian think tank . It was because the senior all-rounder was absent from all four Test matches against the Three Lions. In Test cricket, Ashwin is the bowler who has had the most success against left-handed hitters. In the longest format, the seasoned spinner has struck out left-handed hitters over 229 times.

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Gavaskar also points out Aswin’s historical success against four left-handed batters in Australian team. He claimed, “the lack of an off-spinner on this side is startling. Without Ashwin, the team’s sole spinner on Day 1 of the WTC final at The Oval was all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja. Who failed to pick up a wicket. Australia reached 327-3 in 85 overs because to superb knocks from Smith (95*) and Travis Head (146*).