![\""Big](\"https:\/\/c.ndtvimg.com\/2023-06\/d0lf3ljo_rohit-sharma-r-ashwin_625x300_07_June_23.jpg?output-quality=80&downsize=639:*\" "\\"\"Big")
<\/div>\nRohit Sharma having a chat with R Ashwin during Day 1’s play at the WTC final.\u00a9 Twitter<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n For World Test Championship final, India left out Ravichandran Ashwin<\/a> from their side on Wednesday as skipper Rohit Sharma<\/a> won the toss and elected to field against Australia at the Oval. Off-spinner Ashwin is the world’s top-ranked Test bowler, but with overcast conditions and a green-tinged pitch promising to assist the quicks, India opted for an attack of four seamers and spin-bowling all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja<\/a>.<\/p>\n A similar combination helped India defeat England by 157 runs when they last played a Test at the Oval in 2021, when Ashwin was also omitted.<\/p>\n However, several former players felt differently.<\/p>\n “No @ashwinravi99 for #India is a big mistake .. !! #WTC2023” former England captain Michael Vaughan<\/a> tweeted.<\/p>\n No @ashwinravi99<\/a> for #India<\/a> is a big mistake .. !! #WTC2023<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) June 7, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n “See it’s an afterthought. And I don’t believe in afterthoughts. As a captain, you take a decision before the toss and India had decided that they would go in with 4 fast bowlers. Having said that, in the last couple of years they have had success in the last couple of years with 4 pacers. They’ve won Test matches but if you ask me… if I was captaining – and every captain is different – Rohit and I think differently. I would find it very hard to keep a spinner out of Ashwin’s quality out of the XI,” former India captain Sourav Ganguly<\/a> said on Star sports at the lunch break.<\/p>\n\n