India lost it in their minds when they decided to exclude Ashwin against a left-handed heavy attack: Virender Sehwag

Day 5 of the World Test Championship final (WTC) 2023 ended in yet another heartbreak for team India as the Australian bowling attack proved to be too much to handle. The Aussies looked to be in control from Day 1, following many arguable blunders from India.

Sitting at number one in the list of best Test bowlers, Ravichandran Ashwin was left out of the Indian lineup for the WTC final. Furthermore, the Indian batters were subpar at best when attempting to chase the target down in the second innings. 

As Australia won the game by 209 runs, former India batter Virender Sehwag took to Twitter to congratulate the Aussies on their title win, and even pointed out where India went wrong with their decision-making.

"Congratulations to Australia on winning the #WTCFinal. They are the deserved winners. India lost it in their minds when they decided to exclude Ashwin against a left-handed heavy attack. Plus the top order needed to bat better. Need to have better mindset and approach to win championships," Virender Sehwag tweeted.

Congratulations to Australia on winning the #WTCFinal. They are the deserved winners. India lost it in their minds when they decided to exclude Ashwin against a left-handed heavy attack. Plus the top order needed to bat better. Need to have better mindset and approach to win…

— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) June 11, 2023

Australia won the WTC final by 209 runs

As Day 5 of the World Test Championship final got underway, India required 280 runs to win the game. With Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane on the crease, many opined that team India were still in the game. However, disaster struck early, as Scott Boland sent the former India skipper packing for 49 runs. Following Kohli’s dismissal, the rest of the Indian batting lineup could not do much.

Mitchell Starc sent Rahane back to the pavilion for 46 runs. As both set batters were dismissed, Australia were quick to bundle out the rest of the Indian squad. Shardul Thakur and Ravindra Jadeja were unable to contribute with the bat in the second innings as well. Nathan Lyon and Scott Boland were the stars of the show in the second innings, taking four and three wickets, respectively.