Ravichandran Ashwin has recently said that he “would have loved to play” in the World Test Championship (WTC) final because he played an important role in India’s two-year journey to the final as well. The veteran off-spinner, however, was quick to admit that the team wanted to go ahead with the same template that helped them in the 2-2 drawn series against England in 2021. However, Ashwin was India’s highest-wicket taker in the WTC 2021-23 cycle but India played with a combination of four-seamers plus Ravindra Jadeja at the Oval and lost the Test by 209 runs as well.
“It’s a hard question to answer, right?” Ravichandran Ashwin told The Indian Express. “Because we are standing right after the WTC Final. I would have loved to play because I have played a part in us getting there. Even in the last final I got four wickets and bowled really well. Ever since 2018-19, my bowling overseas has been fantastic and I have managed to win games for the team. I am looking at it as a captain or coach and I’m just talking in hindsight, in their defense. So the last time when we were in England, it was 2-2 with a drawn Test and they would have felt 4 pacers and 1 spinner is the combination in England. That is what they might have thought going into the final.”
READ MORE: Harbhajan Singh says Australia have the upperhand in the WTC final
He again stated that he doesn’t see this as a “setback” but a “stumbling block” as well which he can still overcome as well.
He shared: “For me, it’s not a setback. It’s just a stumbling block, I’ll move on because I have gone through that. When somebody knocks you down for the first time, you have a knee-jerk reaction. I think you should be knocked down once in a while along your life so that you are used to it and will know how to bounce back. That’s what life is. Whether you are at your peak or not, it is still a set back. The fact that you need to learn how to deal with it is very important.”
Ravichandran Ashwin also said that teams play spinners by thinking about the fourth innings. He further added that “it’s a mindset thing” as spinners could get the chance if teams believe they can score enough runs for them to come into play as the game progresses as well. Meanwhile, he was praised for his behaviour when, soon after the final, he congratulated Australia and applauded his teammates and support staff via a tweet as well.
READ MORE: Sanjay Manjrekar dissects Virat Kohli’s poor show in WTC Final
“The moment, the final finished I put out a tweet because I realised one thing is that I need closure. The moment I get the closure I can move on. There is no time to hang around. I have understood life a lot better now. The more I see it, the kind of trauma toll it takes on my family is incredible. My father has a heart problem and other issues. Every single game, every single day, something happens, he will call me. He is stressed. It’s very easy for me to go out and play because it is still in my control. For my father, it is not and he goes through double of what I do. So looking at this in hindsight, everybody on the outside is irrelevant,” Ravichandran Ashwin concluded.
Notably, Ravichandran Ashwin is currently playing in the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) and he recently made a stunning comeback for his side, Dindigul Dragons as well.
