It has been weeks, since the heartbreak in the World Test Championship final. But the hurt is still very much present, particularly for Ravichandran Ashwin, who was initially passed over for the playing XI by the team management and then had to witness his team lose by a decisive score of 209 runs as Australia won the match. Ashwin’s viral remarks in an interview following the snub have reignited the blame game among supporters, and the veteran Indian off-spinner likely issued a final message to captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid with a MS Dhoni remark.
India’s search for another ICC championship keep on extending. The loss vs Australia was India’s second succesive defeat in WTC Final.
Over the past two cycles, Ashwin has continued to be India’s leading wicket-taker in the WTC final. He took 61 wickets in the just-finished edition, earning him the top spot among bowlers in the ICC Test rankings.
However, the customary controversy abroad caused India to choose an additional seamer over Ashwin in the championship, which ultimately backfired.
Ashwin began his remarks on his YouTube show by praising the Pat Cummins-led squad, saying that they “thoroughly deserved” to win the championship since they did have a “small advantage” in the match.
The Indian squad lost yet another opportunity to end their ICC trophy drought, and Ashwin also discussed the social media comments regarding it. Most of the remarks praised MS Dhoni, who had guided India to three ICC trophy victories. The 36-year-old cricketer argued that the players in the chosen group felt secure under MS Dhoni, which contributed to their success.
“It is understandable that there’s a furore in India that we haven’t won an ICC trophy in 10 years. I empathise with the fans. But the reaction on social media is that this player should be dropped and that player should be included. But quality of a player doesn’t change overnight. Lot of us talk about MS Dhoni’s leadership. What did he do? Ge kept it very simple. Under his regime, where I also played, he will pick a squad of 15. The same squad of 15 and the XI will play throughput the year. That sense of security is very important for a player,” he said.
Ashwin has mentioned the value of developing a “sense of security” in a player’s head twice in the past two weeks.
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