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India suffered a humiliating 209-run defeat against Australia in the 2023 World Test Championship (WTC) final at The Oval. Interestingly, the No.1 ranked Test bowler Ravichandran Ashwin was dropped from India's playing XI for the summit clash against Australia. With the pitch covered in grass, Rohit and the Indian management decided to go with a four-pacer-one-spinner combination for the final. As it turned out, India missed Ashwin's services immensely as they were tricked by the grass covering the pitch.
Former India captain and legendary batter, Sunil Gavaskar still cannot wrap his head around Indian management's decision to exclude arguably their biggest match-winner in Test from the playing XI. Gavaskar is baffled by the treatment Ashwin has received, especially in overseas Test matches.
"India dropped Ravichandran Ashwin, the No. 1 ranked bowler in the game, according to the ICC rankings. The Australians had five left-handers in the team and while one leftie – Travis Head – scored a quickfire century in the first innings, another southpaw Alex Carey got a 48 in the first innings and an unbeaten 66 in the second. During that second innings effort, he also put on 93 runs with another left-hander Mitchell Starc at a time when India were looking to dismiss Australia cheaply in the second innings," Gavaskar wrote in his column for Mid-Day.
"If Ashwin had been in the team, who knows what could have happened. With the bat too, he could have contributed. No other top-class Indian cricketer in the modern era has been treated as bafflingly as Ashwin has been. Tell me if there was a No. 1 ICC-ranked batter in the team, would he have been left out of the playing XI just because in earlier times he had not got runs on a grassy pitch or if he had not scored runs on a dry spin-friendly pitch? Definitely not," he added.
In Ashwin's absence, the Indian bowling attack looked toothless for the major part of the match. India conceded 469 runs in the first innings and 270/8 in the second innings before Australia decided to declare.
Former cricketers and fans heavily criticised Rohit and the team management excluding the veteran off-spinner from the playing XI. The decision also came as a surprise to many onlookers because Ashwin was India's leading wicket-taker during WTC 2021-23 cycle.
"In Ashwin's case, despite being the No.1 bowler, he is not always the first spinner to be brought on. Oh yes, there are reasons given that there were right-handers at the crease, so a left-handed spinner was given the ball or the wind was blowing in a certain direction or the bowler's follow through footmarks were for the left-handed spinner, etc as if Ashwin has only left-handed batters as his wickets," Gavaskar continued.
"This is not being wise after the event, but a pattern that has been seen over the years. But for this 'hard to understand thinking' he would have already played more than 100 Test matches. The pitch on the fourth day eased out considerably and with the two most experienced batters in the team together, it could have been a gripping finish to the Ultimate Test match. Even if India were to win, it should not blind us to the treatment given to Ashwin and whatever the explanation that is given, the bowling results in the match where India have been asked to chase 444 tells us that dropping him was not the right call to make," he added.
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