Sunil Gavaskar criticises India for benching R Ashwin in the WTC final, stating, “I find his absence puzzling.”

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar is perplexed by India’s decision to withdraw top-ranked Test bowler Ravichandran Ashwin for the World Test Championship match against Australia at the Oval in London. Once the toss was completed and Rohit Sharma revealed his playing XI for the WTC final, Ravichandran Ashwin’s omission dominated the conversation. As conditions improved and Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne assumed control, it became apparent that India was missing Ashwin.

Ashwin is the highest wicket-taker for India in the WTC 2021–23 cycle with 61 scalps. Additionally, the off-spinner is the highest-ranked bowler in the ICC Test rankings. During the Border-Gavaskar Trophy earlier this year, Ashwin took 25 wickets and shared the Player of the Series award with Ravindra Jadeja.

In a similar vein, Sunil Gavaskar argued that India ought to have chosen the off-spinner while acknowledging his confusion over their decision to do so.

“First and foremost, they could have included R. Ashwin in their squad (what could India have done differently on Day 1?). It truly baffles me that the No. 1 bowler in the ICC rankings cannot find a position in the Indian playing XI, regardless of the conditions. This is something that has always perplexed me whenever Ashwin is involved. Even the last time India visited England, they simply did not select him, Gavaskar told Star Sports.

India erred by failing to deploy Ravi Ashwin: Sunil Gavaskar

The former cricketer noted that Umesh Yadav and Shardul Thakur entered the match with incomplete IPL bowling performances. In 14 overs of bowling, Umesh did not take a wicket and conceded 54 runs. Shardul, on the other hand, bowled 18 overs and allowed 75 runs for one wicket. Given the significant number of left-handed batsmen in the Australian batting order, Gavaskar felt India missed an opportunity by not removing Ashwin from the match.

“At times, you can get swept away. If you possess four quality seam bowlers, the situation changes. Excellent seam bowlers. Two of our seam bowlers lacked sufficient heat. One is Umesh Yadav, who has not played for KKR in recent matches, and the other is Shardul Thakur. Both of them had limited bowling experience,” Gavaskar said.

“However, you had two bowlers who participated in every game for their franchises. They may have been slightly overcooked, despite the fact that it was a 4-over period. Given the number of left-handed players in the Australian XI, an off-spinner should have been included. I believe that India lost an opportunity here,” he continued.