“Many people think that India’s only job is to win World Cup” - Ravichandran Ashwin slams critics of Rohit Sharma, Rahul Dravid

Team India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin lashed out at critics of Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid for having a go at the duo following India’s loss to West Indies in the second ODI. According to Ashwin, people are lambasting the captain and coach without any rhyme or reason.

Rohit and Dravid received a lot of backlash after the Indian captain and Virat Kohli were rested for the second ODI against West Indies in Barbados. Following a batting collapse, the Men in Blue went on to lose the game by six wickets.

Defending the Indian team’s decision to rest Rohit and Kohli, Ashwin opined that people had a go at the captain and coach without understanding the logic behind the decision.

“India lost the second ODI, and immediately the trend in social media was - why so-and-so players played and why so-and-so players did not play. I seriously don’t understand why this outrage. Rohit and Virat didn’t play in the second ODI. Even in the first match, Rohit batted lower down the order. So the debate was around whether Rohit and Virat should have played," he said on his YouTube channel.

“Some of them were perplexed at how we lost to a team that didn’t even qualify for the World Cup. Many people think that India’s only job in international cricket is to win World Cup. The main reason why we consider ourselves favorites to win the World Cup is because of the IPL,” the 36-year-old went on to add.

While discussing India’s injury woes, Ashwin pointed out that the visitors played the first two ODIs within 24 hours, which is another reason why it was important to rest players.

The seasoned cricketer explained:

“ODI matches are very stressful. It will take at least two days for your body to recover. The first two matches in West Indies were played in a gap of 24 hours. Thus, there are more chances of you getting injured."

He added:

“Already we have so many players recovering at the NCA. Bumrah is back after a long hiatus. Prasidh Krishna is back too. So, we have so many injury problems. It seems like people are finding points to blame Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma just for the sake of it.

“They are trying different players now because they know what they went through during the last T20 World Cup. We didn’t have Ravindra Jadeja and Bumrah, and we didn’t have many fast bowlers. That’s why we are trying different options before the ODI World Cup,” the off-spinner said in defence of Dravid and Rohit.

India rested Kohli and Rohit for the third ODI as well but ended up winning the game by 200 runs, putting up a dominant performance with both bat and ball.

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“Where else will he bat?” - Ashwin backs move to send Axar at No. 4

In the second ODI against West Indies, all-rounder Axar Patel was promoted to bat at No. 4. While a lot of critics and fans were perplexed, Ashwin found nothing wrong with the move.

“Some of them asked why Axar Patel batted at No. 4. Where else will he bat? Shreyas Iyer will walk into the No. 4 spot when fit. We need a left-hander since Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill will be opening the batting. If we play on slightly spinning wickets and if Axar bats a No. 4, we can extend our batting and play an extra bowler like Shardul," he opined.

“We don’t know what the team management is thinking. Therefore, we can’t criticize them, saying their thought process is wrong,” Ashwin concluded.

Having won the ODI series, India face West Indies in five T20Is from August 3 to 13.