India, since that 2013 Champions Trophy, have not yet tasted success in ICC events. They had the opportunity to lift a trophy at the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) Final but got thumped badly by Australia by a massive 209 runs at The Oval in London.
For this, Rohit Sharma and Co. were slammed brutally by fans, former cricketers, and experts, including the legendary Sachin Tendulkar. Tendulkar particularly pointed out why a bowler of Ravichandran Ashwin‘s caliber, who is also the World No.1 Test bowler in the world, was left out of the playing XI.
“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 Ashwin in the playing XI, who is currently the number one Test bowler in the world,” Tendulkar tweeted on Sunday, adding that spinners like him do not always rely on conditions to bowl effectively. India opted to leave out the Indian all-rounder to include a fourth seamer, Shardul Thakur, due to the conditions in The Oval.
“Like I had mentioned before the match, skillful spinners don’t always rely on turning tracks, they use drift in the air and bounce off the surface to disguise their variations. Not to forget, Australia had five left-handers out of their top batters,” Tendulkar added.
Check his post below:
Congratulations to Team Australia on winning the #WTCFinal. @stevesmith49 and @travishead34 set a solid foundation on Day one itself to tilt 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…— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) June 11, 2023
Related: WATCH: Despondent Indian supporters wait outside The Oval to get a glimpse of Indian players after loss to Australia in WTC Final
Virat Kohli breaks Sachin Tendulkar’s huge record
Though India lost the match, Virat Kohli shattered a huge record that was previously held by Sachin Tendulkar. He has surpassed the Master Blaster in the most runs scored in ICC knockouts.
Tendulkar had previously scored 657 runs in 15 knockout matches. On the other hand, Kohli, in that WTC Final reached 678 runs after his 14 and 44* runs in the first and second innings respectively.
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