Veteran India spin-bowler Ravichandran Ashwin has said that qualifying for the World Test Championship Final for the second time constantly is no mean feat. However, India is all set to take on Australia in the WTC Final at the Kennington Oval in London on June 7. While speaking to ICC, Ashwin said that the turnaround for Indian Test cricket started in 2014 when MS Dhoni retired from the format and they had to start off on their journey as well. Notably, India finished second in the WTC standings, having 127 points in 18 matches, winning 10, losing five and drawing three as well.
“The turnaround definitely started in 2014. MS Dhoni had just retired and we had all played for a few Tests, probably 2013 Tests, pretty early on and we had to start a journey of our own,” said R Ashwin.
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However, he further added that it is no less to qualify for the WTC Finals for the second time on a trot. India lost the 2021 WTC Final by eight wickets against New Zealand at the Rose Bowl in Southampton. R Ashwin also said that Team India has been rewarded for the performance consistently that they have played over the last few years as well. It is also noteworthy that India beat Australia 2-1 in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in India earlier this year, to qualify for the WTC Final.
“Never easy without the seniors, but I can comfortably say that all the efforts we have put in have come really to fruition over the last two cycles of WTC. We are qualifying for the second time on the trot [to the WTC finals]. It is no mean feat. We would have loved to win the series in India 3-1 or 3-0 or whatever it is but Australia played some good cricket. We weren’t able to do that. However, for the consistent cricket we have played, we’ve been rewarded with this final,” concluded R Ashwin.
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However, Australia topped the WTC points table with 152 points in 19 matches, to reach the final where they will play against India, who will be trying to win their first ICC trophy in almost 10 years as well.
