Sachin Tendulkar slams team selection after India’s WTC Final loss

After India’s crushing defeat against Australia in the recently-concluded World Test Championship (WTC) final at the Oval, legendry cricketer Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar has slammed Team India’s selection for the marquee game.

As per Sachin, senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin’s exclusion from India’s playing XI for the all-important game was baffling. The former great batter is also of the view that a spinner of Ashwin’s calibre doesn’t need conducive conditions to be effective.

“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,” Sachin tweeted.

“Like I had mentioned before the match, skilful 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,” he further tweeted.

Notably, the veteran off-spinner has picked up 61 wickets in 13 Tests in the two-year cycle of the second WTC edition.

Earlier, Ashwin’s omission from India’s XI was defended by coach Rahul Dravid. As per Dravid, the overcast conditions forced them to pick a fourth specialist seamer. However, there was bright sunshine on all five days and Australia took full advantage of it.