WTC Final: Sachin Tendulkar questions dropping Ravi Ashwin from playing XI after India's loss

India once again came up short of winning the WTC Final as they lost by 209runs against Australia on day 5 of the ultimate Test in London. Rohit Sharma had won the toss on day 1 but nothing went India's way after that. This was India's second consecutive loss in the WTC Final.

While Australia batted beautifully after losing two wickets in the first session ofthe opening day, it was India's playing XI that raised eyebrowsamong cricket experts and fans. Notably, India had left out off-spinner Ravi Ashwin out of the XI, a move which skipper Sharma had defined as tough but needed for the team.

Sachin questions Ashwin's exclusion after loss

Former India batsman Sachin Tendulkar, after India's loss, also questioned the move in a tweet and said that he failed to understand Ashwin's exclusion.

"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," Tendulkar tweeted. “There were some good moments for Team India, but I fail to understand the exclusion of @ashwinravi99 in the playing XI, who is currently the number one Test bowler in the world,” Sachin tweeted.

"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 5 left-handers out of their top 8 batters, read the tweet further.

Sharma defends the move, Dravid bemoans 1st innings bowling

“It's always tough. He's been a match-winner for us, over the course of many years. So, leaving him out was tough. But you got to do the things that are needed for the team. So, eventually we came up with that decision,” Rohit had said at the toss about Ashwin not playing.

While the debate could go on for days, India's other bowlers didn't show the needed discipline in Australia's innings as they allowed the Kangaroos to pile up 469 runs. Coach Rahul Dravid also lamented that same.

"It wasn't a 469 wicket," Dravid said. "On the first day, last session, conceding 157 [for no wicket] was disappointing. We knew the lines and lengths we needed to bowl; the lengths weren't bad, but we went wide with our lines, gave a lot of room to Travis Head, he capitalised, and we fell behind,” Dravid said after the loss.

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