'Home World Cup is Always Special..': Ravichandran Ashwin Reacts to ODI World Cup 2023 Snub

Ravichandran Ashwin failed to make it into India’s squad for the ODI World Cup 2023 however the spin wizard wished the Rohit Sharma-led unit well for the home world calling it ‘special’ and urging the fans to cheer for the Men in Blue.

While Ashwin last played an ODI match against South Africa in January 2022, many former cricketers, including ex-chief selector Krishnamachari Srikkanth did back the spin wizard to make a late entry into India’s 15-man roster for the World Cup.

Ashwin had earlier missed out on India’s squad for the Asia Cup, and thus it was expected that the veteran will not feature in the World Cup squad as well, with Yuzvendra Chahal and Sanju Samson also left out.

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The 36-year-old right-arm offbreak bowler wasn’t too upset about his exclusion as it was more or less confirmed that Ashwin wouldn’t feature in India’s ODI plans.

Taking to social media shortly after the announcement of India’s squad, Ashwin wished the Rohit Sharma-led side good luck for the home World Cup.

“Go well boys! Home World Cup is always special and let’s ( all of us ) back them to bring it home,” wrote Ashwin on X (formerly Twitter).

While addressing the press conference in Kandy, chief selector Ajit Agarkar both asserted that the players who were selected give the side the team the best ‘balance’, while Rohit said he knows from his personal experience how it feels to miss out on the World Cup squad, but there was always going to be the limitation of having 15 players in the roster.

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“Discussions on other names are always there but you try to find the right balance. This squad gives us the best balance and chance to do well in the World Cup,” said Agarkar.

“We have three all-rounders, four seamers and seven batters. This is how best we could have created the balance. I don’t think we could have done anything extra. We have made best use of resources available for the squad. It gives us depth, spinning options and bowling options. I think this is the best combination for us,” Rohit stated.

India will open their World Cup campaign against Australia on October 8, at the M.A Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.