Sachin Tendulkar reacts to India team selection after crushing WTC final defeat: ‘I fail to understand…’

India had to bat big in the first innings to stay in the game, but they couldn’t, said the former batter after Rohit Sharma’s men fell like ninepins on the final day of the Test.

• Shubham
• 12 June, 2023

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By: Shubham Ghosh

FORMER INDIA captain Sachin Tendulkar was baffled by the selection of India’s playing XI in the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) against Australia at The Oval after the Asian side lost by 209 runs — their second defeat in the final of the tournament in three years.

The legendary cricketer found senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin’s exclusion from India’s playing XI for the World Test Championship final baffling, as a spinner of his calibre doesn’t need conducive conditions to be effective. Ashwin is the second-highest wicket-taker for India in Tests, having claimed 474 scalps in 92 matches and stands only next to Anil Kumble, who has 619 from 132 games. He is also the No.1 bowler in the International Cricket Council Test rankings.

Ashwin’s absence from XI was, however, defended by coach Rahul Dravid, who said that overcast conditions forced them to pick a fourth specialist seamer, even though the opposition line-up comprised five left-handers. There was bright sunshine on all five days and Australia raced to 469 in the first innings, literally shutting the doors 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 (12).

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…

— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) June 11, 2023

What surprised Tendulkar is the fact that he found it difficult to believe that a bowler of Ashwin’s calibre can’t be used in conditions which are seamer-friendly.

“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.”

For the record, Ashwin has picked up 61 wickets in 13 Tests in the two-year cycle of the second WTC edition.

(With PTI inputs)