WTC Final: Sunil Gavaskar slams Team India coach Rahul Dravid for not picking Ravichandran Ashwin in playing XI

Several fans and experts have slammed Indian management for excluding veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin from the playing XI for the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) Final at Oval.

Legendry batsman Sunil Gavaskar also joined the bandwagon. The former India captain slammed coach Rahul Dravid for the bad decision.

As per Gavaskar, India missed a trick by excluding Ashwin from the playing XI and the veteran off-spinner should have been included considering Australia have five left-handers in their XI.

“India missed a trick by not playing Ashwin. He is the world No. 1 bowler. You don’t look at the pitch for players like him. You are playing a WTC Final, and you don’t pick the number one bowler in Test cricket. This decision is beyond my understanding. I would have picked him in place of Umesh Yadav, who was out of action and looks out of rhythm,” said the former India captain.

“There are five left-handed batters in this Australian side and Ashwin has traditionally done well against them. It is shocking that there isn’t any off-spinner in this side,” he added.

Notably, after losing initial wickets, Australia reached 327 for three at stumps on the opening day.