'Some were perplexed at how we lost to a team that didn’t qualify for World Cup': R Ashwin

The Test and ODI series between Team India and the West Indies was a victorious one for Rohit Sharma and Co. The Men in Blue recently dominated the third ODI match, winning by a huge margin of 200 runs. However, the win came after they lost the 2nd ODI match to the Windies and were heavily criticized for the defeat and for benching Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.

3 things you need to know 

• India will begin their 5-match T20 series against the West Indies on August 3, 2023
• India won the Test series by 1-0 after the 2nd Test was washed off due to rain and resulted in a tie
• India won the ODI series by 2-1 but lost to West Indies in the 2nd ODI

R Ashwin opens up after the criticism faced after loss in 2nd ODI

Following India's defeat to the West Indies in the second ODI, off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin criticised those who were targeting Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid. Following the decision to rest the Indian captain and Virat Kohli for the game in Barbados, there has been a huge backlash against Rohit and Dravid. The Men in Blue, however, lost by six wickets as a result of a batting collapse.

The Indian team's choice to rest Rohit and Kohli has received support from Ashwin. He thinks that people have criticised the captain and coach without really knowing their justifications. Before casting accusations or passing judgment, it is important to take the reasoning and context for such decisions into account.

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Talking on his YouTube channel, R Ashwin stated: 

“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," 

“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,”
 

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ODI matches are very stressful: R Ashwin

Talking about the injury issues that the Indian Cricket Team has been facing recently, the Tamil Nadu star player claimed that India played their first two ODI matches without any rest. 

“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."

Ashwin lashed out at critics for pointing the finger at Dravid and Rohit Sharma without taking into account the team's injury issues and the necessity for experimentation before the next ODI World Cup. He added that Bumrah and Prasidh Krishna are among the youngsters at the National Cricket Academy who are getting better from their injuries. Due to previous World Cup problems, Ashwin supported the choice to rest Kohli and Rohit by arguing that it was necessary to consider other player possibilities. He emphasised the team's victory in the third ODI, which they won by 200 runs while batting and bowling brilliantly.