‘Kya hi zaroorat hai Ash anna ki’ – Fans react as Ravichandran Ashwin fails to find place in Indian Playing XI for WTC final 2023

India is locking horns with Australia in the much-awaited World Test Championship (WTC), final at the Kennington Oval in London on Wednesday, June 7. Team India skipper, Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bowl first. Star India off-spinner, Ravichandran Ashwin was dropped from the Playing XI as the pitch condition favours the pacers more than the spinners.

When asked about how difficult it was for the team management to leave out Ashwin, the “world’s no. 1 bowler” in the Test Rankings, who has 869 points to his name, at the toss, host Nasser Hussain got Rohit’s response.  “We have four seamers and one spinner: Ravindra Jadeja. It has always been tough. He has been such a matchwinner for us for so many years. Leaving him out is not a great occasion but you have to do things needed for the team,” Rohit was quoted as saying at the time of the toss.

It depends a lot on the shiny side of the ball: Sachin Tendulkar

Before the game, the primary selection debate was on whether or not to pick Ashwin, with opposing views coming even from past players. India should take a chance on Ashwin, according to Sachin Tendulkar, but Dinesh Karthik recommended against it. It all came down to the Oval pitch. It has developed a reputation for bounce and speed during the past two seasons. It probably tells the whole picture that Surrey hasn’t selected a specialist spinner in any of their three games. In all three of their games played here this season, the side batting first has won the game.

No matter how much the surface was spun, Tendulkar argued that Ashwin should be played. “It need not be always a turning track as sometimes the spinners rely a lot on the bounce, sometimes that little bit of zip that they get off the pitch, also on the overhead conditions and it depends a lot on the shiny side of the ball. If they are able to get that drift, they can make the ball talk in the air without the pitch coming into play. So, Oval is going to be good venue for India,” Tendulkar asserted on his website 100mbsports.

Here’s how fans reacted:

https://twitter.com/Ashu1_tweet/status/1666371219552182272

Good decision. Aswin hardly take's a wicket in sena

— Vignesh PEREZ OUT❌️ (@ViniciusJrERA) June 7, 2023

India may miss Ashwin in the 2nd Innings

— Yash Garg (@yashbeingyash) June 7, 2023

Wtf..

— Amlan Talukdar (@AmlanTalukdar6) June 7, 2023

https://twitter.com/akshat_mhatre/status/1666370783067918341

I think ravi is better and complete spinner than jadeja

— dragon (@hArRy_1_8_) June 7, 2023

This is a poor decision. Hope it does not come back to haunt India later in the game.

— vivek (@hvivekw) June 7, 2023

https://twitter.com/Crazy4FLICKshot/status/1666371456224342016