WTC Final: Sachin Tendulkar questions R Ashwin’s exclusion from Team India lineup, says

India’s poor run in ICC events continued as Australia clinched their maiden World Test Championship title with a thumping 209-run win on the fifth day of the summit clash on Sunday. This was India’s second successive WTC final defeat after losing to New Zealand in 2021 in the inaugural edition.

Chasing an impossible target of 444, India started the day at 164 for 3 but soon lost batting mainstay Virat Kohli (49), followed by Ravindra Jadeja (0) and Ajinkya Rahane (0). 43) was dismissed for 234 runs in 63.3 overs.

Scott Boland (3/46) was the best of the bowlers as he dismissed Kohli and Jadeja in the same over to finish the contest decisively and the rest was a formality. However, Nathan Lyon (4/41) had the best figures as he chopped off the tail in the nick of time. Watch: An angry Sunil Gavaskar criticizes Virat Kohli’s poor shot selection, calls Team India’s batting performance a ‘disaster’

Former India cricketer and sporting legend, Sachin Tendulkar congratulated Australia for their WTC title but also pointed fingers at R Ashwin’s decision not to feature in the playing XI for India in the final clash at The Oval.

Congratulations Team Australia on winning the #WTCFinal. @stevesmith49 and @travishead34 laid a solid foundation on day one to take the game in their favour. India had to bat big in the first innings to stay in the game but they Couldn’t. There were some good moments for Team India, but I fail to understand the exclusion of @ashwinravi99
In the playing XI, who is the number one Test bowler in the world at the moment.”

Congratulations to team Australia #WTCFinal, @SteveSmith49 And @travishead34 To turn the game in their favor, they laid a solid foundation on the first day itself. India needed to bat big in the first innings to stay in the game, but they could not do so. Had some good moments…

— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) June 11, 2023

“As I mentioned before the match, skilful spinners don’t always rely on turning tracks, they use drift in the air and bounce off the surface to disguise their variations. It should not be forgotten that Australia have 5 were left-handed batsmen. 8 batsmen.”

R Ashwin is the No. 1 bowler in Test cricket and despite the fact that it was a pace-friendly pitch, his exclusion from the lineup didn’t go down well with a lot of fans and experts as well. The opposition team played himself (Nathan Lyon) as an off-spinner and it worked well as he picked up five important wickets for his side.