‘Jiski wajah se final mein ho use nahin khilaya’ – Fans unhappy over Ravichandran Ashwin’s exclusion from India’s playing XI for WTC final against Australia

India has ignored Ravichandran Ashwin for the ongoing World Test Championship final against Australia. He has taken 61 wickets in 13 games of the 2021-23 cycle of the tournament. Ashwin has been the third-highest wicket-taker in this cycle of two years. However, with the overcast conditions at The Oval in the ongoing Day One, the 2021 finalists won the toss and elected to bowl first.

At the toss, India skipper Rohit Sharma said that it was a tough decision to leave out Ashwin. The former added that the conditions on offer tempted them to go for four-seamers. The World Number One Test side has included Ravindra Jadeja as the sole spinner. In pace bowling, the likes of Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, and Umesh Yadav will do the job.

“It is tough to leave Ashwin out. He 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,” says Rohit.

Australia Team

DA Warner, UT Khawaja, M Labuschagne, SPD Smith, TM Head, C Green, AT Carey (WK), MA Starc, PJ Cummins (C), NM Lyon, SM Boland

India Team

RG Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, CA Pujara, V Kohli, AM Rahane, KS Bharat (WK), RA Jadeja, SN Thakur, UT Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj

Ravichandran Ashwin is yet to play a Test in England after WTC 2021 final

Meanwhile, the fans aren’t impressed with the decision. Notably, since the last WTC final against New Zealand, Ashwin is yet to play a Test match in England. In the series against England in the UK in August-September 2021, the two-time World Champion didn’t play the four Tests. Last year, when the team returned to play the rescheduled fifth Test. Ashwin didn’t play.

Meanwhile, in the ongoing game, Siraj has taken the wicket of Usman Khawaja. At the time of writing, the Aussies have scored 16/1 in six overs.

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