Former England captain Michael Vaughan has warned Team India over a baffling selection call for the ongoing ICC World Test Championship final against Australia at the Oval in London.
The Indian team-management sprung a huge surprise ahead of the mega clash by deciding to drop Ravichandran Ashwin from the playing eleven. The ace-spinner is currently the world number one Test bowler. He is also India’s leading wicket-taker in WTC 2021-23 cycle. In 13 Tests, he has picked up 61 wickets.
However, his record and ICC ranking were not enough to get a place in the playing eleven, much to the cricket fraternity’s surprise. As soon as Rohit Sharma confirmed the decision of not including Ravichandran Ashwin, the fans and experts took to social media to express their surprise over the same.
Michael Vaughan also took to Twitter to share his views on the matter and fired a warning to India, saying that not including Ashwin in the team was a big mistake by Rohit Sharma & Co.
“No @ashwinravi99 for #India is a big mistake .. !!,” wrote Michael Vaughan.
No @ashwinravi99 for #India is a big mistake .. !! #WTC2023
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) June 7, 2023
Meanwhile, Rohit explained the reason behind the big decision of not picking Ashwin in the team. Speaking after winning the toss, the India skipper admitted that leaving the spinner was tough but the management had to take the call for the team.
“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 said.
Talking about the game, India won the toss and elected to bowl first. At the time of writing this report, Australia were on 73 for 2 after 23 overs.