Team India endured a crushing 209-run defeat at the hands of Pat Cummins’ Australia in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2021-23 final at The Oval in London. Following the loss, fans and members of the cricketing fraternity outlined the flaws in the setup as many were left flabbergasted with veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin’s exclusion.
“Absolutely! I definitely felt that. In fact, my playing XI did have (Ravichandran) Ashwin there. I’m not saying that you can’t play four pacers, it’s nothing of that sort, but I always felt that irrespective of the conditions, had India lost the toss and we were asked to bat, we would have struggled to think, ‘Oh! Now what do we do?’ I’m pretty sure that the team management thought through the decision,” Anjum told News18.
“As a player, I would have always kept Ashwin in that line-up, just because, I think he is a quality bowler and irrespective of the conditions, he can deliver the goods. And he’s absolutely in isolation, just looking at his skill level and the records the Indian team has had with him in the playing XI,” she added.
