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India's Ashwin T20 WC and WTC Selection Calls Sum Up Rohit-Dravid's Poor Attempt At ICC Trophy Dream

India's ICC trophy drought went past 10 years with their 209-run defeat against Australia in the 2023 WTC final. The appointment of Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma came with the dream of lifting an ICC title, but India now seem as far away from an ICC trophy as they have been in the last decade.

Written by: Aayush Kataria

Updated Jun 14, 2023 | 05:51 AM IST

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Indias Ashwin T20 WC and WTC Selection Calls Sum Up Rohit-Dravids Poor Attempt At ICC Trophy Dream

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

India have not won an ICC trophy for 10 years
Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid's decision have been criticised
India will host the 2023 World Cup

If there is one person who defines India's gigantic failures in ICC events under the pairing of head coach Rahul Dravid and captain Rohit Sharma, it is Ravichandran Ashwin. India's humbling defeat in the 2022 T20 World Cup semi-final and the 2023 World Test Championship (WTC) final have a common theme, but for completely wrong reasons.

At the T20 World Cup, every other team in the world was using wrist spinners who were x-factors for them. India decided to bench their leading wicket-taker in T20 history, Yuzvendra Chahal, and play Ravichandran Ashwin instead. While Ashwin's batting was a help, the Rohit-led outfit struggled to pick wickets in the middle overs, and ultimately it all came crashing down with a 10-wicket defeat to England in the semi-final.

In the WTC final, Rohit and Dravid decided to bench the world's No. 1 Test bowler. Ironically, after playing him against popular opinion in the T20 World Cup, India dropped Ashwin for the summit clash at the Oval against Australia on an oval pitch known to be one of the few that assist spin in England, with sunny weather forecasted for the entire match against a left-hander-dominated Australian bowling unit in order to play an extra pacer.

The sight of Nathan Lyon ending Ravindra Jadeja's counter-attacking effort was painful for Indian fans, as the day before Travis Head had demolished India's bowling unit. Seeing Jadeja fall to an off-spinner, one was bound to wonder if Ashwin would have stopped Head long before he made a match-winning 160.

Such was the absurdity of the decision that even the great Sachin Tendulkar did not mince his words in calling out the decision. "There were some good moments for Team India, but I fail to understand the exclusion of @ashwinravi99 in the playing XI, who is currently the number one Test bowler in the world. Like I had mentioned before the match, skillful 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," wrote Tendulkar on Twitter.

Indian cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar called Ashwin's treatment the most baffling any Indian player has ever received in history. "No other top-class Indian cricketer in the modern era has been treated as bafflingly as Ashwin has been. Tell me if there was a No. 1 ICC-ranked batter in the team, would he have been left out of the playing XI just because in earlier times he had not got runs on a grassy pitch or if he had not scored runs on a dry spin-friendly pitch? Definitely not," Gavaskar wrote in Mid-Day.

"This is not being wise after the event, but a pattern that has been seen over the years. But for this ‘hard to understand thinking’ he would have already played more than 100 Test matches," he added.

Wrong Lessons Learnt

Ultimately, India's selection felt like one trying to correct the blunder in the 2021 final, albeit by a previous manager who played two spinners. However, after that loss, the real lesson was to play the team for the conditions, which for that match were conclusive to pace bowling on a green track with plenty of rain around.

The situation this time around was completely different. While it was the same country, it was a different opponent with drastically different weather.

If the solution was what worked for India against England in the memorable 2021 series, it is worth pointing out that there was a huge difference between having Jasprit Bumrah and, in parts, Ishant Sharma available in the four-man pace attack and not having them and dare I say the difference of having Virat Kohli as captain and not. Ultimately, it is about the quality you put out on the field, and India were lacking with Umesh Yadav and Shardul Thakur being their third and fourth pacers, respectively. It is hard to believe that even in England, Ashwin's brilliance would not have been a better option.

Bizarre Selections

The strange Ashwin selections in the T20 World Cup and WTC Final are not just about an individual decision but a series of strange selection calls. India had Chesteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane in the line-up for this game, whom the team had seemingly moved on from just 15 months ago.

While Dinesh Karthik had a brilliant 2022 IPL, was going back to a 37-year-old the best option for India? Similarly, the decision to go back to Mohammed Shami (and even Umesh Yadav) ahead of last year's T20 World Cup Even Ashwin's return to the T20 team was a surprise, despite Ravi Bishnoi's impressive displays.

On the other hand, the current management's tenure has almost failed to look past a select group of players, which has left them short of options when injuries hit. At the moment, India has neither the trophies nor a young base to build for the future. It remains to be seen if their transition to T20Is continues when they play a big series or tournament.

In Test cricket, India have made consistent first-class performers like Sarfaraz Khan and Abhimanyu Eashwaran, who have not gotten a look-in even to make the reserves, while white-ball performers have been rewarded.

Coming back to the point of playing four pacers on this oval pitch, the art of reading the pitch wrong has also become synonymous with this management. While Rohit was injured for the game, KL Rahul and Dravid decided to pick an extra pacer on a rank-turner in Mirpur against Bangladesh in a game that India almost lost.

Can India win an ICC tournament soon?

While there is nothing better than a home 50-over world cup to end the drought, which will take place later this year, the reality is that India's ODI form since the 2019 World Cup does not paint a promising picture.

Winning tournaments is a lot about luck and India have not had that under the current management with Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja missing the T20 World Cup while Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, and KL Rahul not fit for the WTC final. However, it will be a convienent excuse to put the defeats to just that.

The least Indians fans will hope from their team is a bit of fight and grit at the World Cup, the lack of which has irked supporters more than just the defeat in the T20 WC SF and the WTC final. Many will argue and perhaps rightly so that it has become a commen theme under the new management which reflects in the results taking a hit in bilaterals too.

Ultimately, the appointment of Dravid and Rohit came with the promise of ICC trophies, but India seem as far away from a title as they have been in the last decade.

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World Test championship

2023 World Cup

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