India’s veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin revealed he understood why he was left out of the World Cup final against Australia. Ashwin played a solitary match in the ODI showpiece, which was the team’s opening game against Australia. The off-spinner returned with 1-34 in his quota of 10 overs.

However, Ashwin didn’t get to play any subsequent matches. In fact, the Ahmedabad pitch for the final was slow but Ashwin was kept on the bench as India continued with Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja.

Ravichandran Ashwin said on his YouTube Channel, “As far as I am concerned, I playing the final, team combination and all that is secondary. Firstly, it’s about empathy, I keep stressing it a lot. It’s about standing in someone else’s shoes and looking at things from his/her viewpoint. If I had been in Rohit’s shoes, I would have thought 100 times about changing the combination. It was going very well for the team. Why would I rest a fast bowler and play three spinners?”

“Honestly, I was able to understand the thought process of Rohit Sharma,” he emphasized.

Ashwin said he was ready to play in the final and stayed away from the social media platforms. The off-spinner said he was prepared to cheer for the team from the bench.

​​“Playing the final is a big opportunity. I was preparing for it for 3 days in the lead-up. I was not replying to a lot of people. I read only the ticker of WhatsApp messages and kept my phone away,” Ashwin said.

“I was preparing myself well for the opportunity. At the same time, I was prepared to cheer for the team and run in with electral if I didn’t get the opportunity. I was mentally prepared for that too,” the spinner added.

Ashwin was added to the World Cup squad after Axar Patel was ruled out with an injury.

The veteran off-spinner will be next seen in the two-match Test series against South Africa.