Ravichandran Ashwin wasn’t picked in the side for the World Test Championship final as India opted to go in with four pacers and the solitary spinner in Ravindra Jadeja. The star off-spinner has dropped one bombshell after the other, ever since India lost the WTC final to Australia by 209 runs. In the same vein, during a recent interview, Ashwin also expressed his disappointment at missing out on featuring in the final, after playing a pivotal role in bringing India to the summit.
Furthermore, the 36-year-old also congratulated the Aussies on their historic win against India and hailed Pat Cummins’ men as the deserving champions. Moreover, the ace off-spinner also pointed out the fact that the Australian team have been consistent in their performance since the last WTC cycle. He also stated that the magnitude of their consistency can be understood by the fact that they almost booked the final berth for the WTC final in the previous cycle as well. So they thoroughly deserved to win the 2023 edition of the WTC.
“Congratulations Australia! It was a fantastic final and they completely deserve the win. There was a small advantage although as few players like Marnus Labuschagne played a couple of matches in county cricket. That was a small one because in a one-Test shootout you can’t really say who will do what, but they thoroughly deserved it. Even in the last WTC cycle, they missed qualifying for the finals only by a whisker. They have been a consistent Test team like India,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
MS Dhoni kept it very simple: Ravichandran Ashwin
Legendary wicketkeeper-batter and captain, MS Dhoni, helped Chennai Super Kings win the Indian Premier League 2023, last month. Ashwin, who was one of Dhoni’s most reliable players in the international circuit, empathized with the fans as India’s wait for an ICC trophy didn’t end at the WTC final. However, he requested everyone to be more patient with the players, and not make calls for them to be dropped from the side.
Giving an insight into MS Dhoni’s school of captaincy, Ashwin stated that the ODI and T20 World Cup-winning captain would pick a pool of 15 players and persist with them for a year before making changes.
“It is understandable that there’s a furore in India that we haven’t won an ICC trophy in 10 years. I empathize with the fans. But the reaction on social media is that this player should be dropped and that player should be included. But quality of a player doesn’t change overnight. Lot of us talk about MS Dhoni’s leadership. What did he do? He kept it very simple. Under his regime, where I also played, he will pick a squad of 15. The same squad of 15 and the XI will play throughout the year. That sense of security is very important for a player,” Ashwin added.