Indian National Congress MP Shashi Tharoor weighed in on the decision to leave Ravichandran Ashwin out of the starting XI for the WTC Final match against Australia at The Oval. Aswhin who was the highest wicket taker for India during the two year WTC cycle was left out as India decided to field four pacers and just the one spinner, with Ravindra Jadeja getting the nod.
Reacting to India not playing Ravichandran Ashwin in WTC final, Shashi Tharoor tweeted: "Australia has recovered well from the early loss of a wicket in the Oval #WTC2023Final. Now I’d normally expect @ashwinravi99 to bowl a couple of overs before lunch. But incredibly enough, India has left the #1 ranked bowler in the world out of their team in the most spinner-friendly ground in England, against his favourite opponents, who are playing four left-handers in their top seven! Baffled, dismayed & bewildered…. #INDvsAUS
Pundits weigh in on Ashwin's absence
Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting also criticised India's decision to leave out Ravichandran Ashwin out of the playing eleven.
"Now that they've won the toss and bowled, they want to do some damage with this new ball. Because I think as this game goes on, it will turn and they would've wanted Ashwin to spin this ball away from the Australian left-handers, and he's not there," Ponting was quoted as saying by Channel Seven.
The dilemma of Ashwin being in the playing eleven or not had been a huge topic of discussion in the run-up to the WTC final, leading to contrasting opinions amongst fans and former cricketers. After electing to bowl first, India captain Rohit Sharma admitted that leaving Ashwin out was a tough call.
"We have four seamers and one spinner: Ravindra Jadeja. He (Ashwin) has been a match-winner for us, it is not a great occasion to leave him out. But you have got to do what is best for the team in the given conditions," said Rohit.
Meanwhile, former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar was left surprised over Ashwin's omission from India's playing eleven for the all-important WTC final.
"It seems like they're convinced this pitch is very seam-friendly, because Ashwin of late in overseas matches has been pretty good. There's clearly a green look to it (pitch) but the soil underneath looked white to suggest there's some dryness as well, and The Oval historically has never been a seaming pitch," Manjrekar was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.
