'They are trying different players now because...' - Ravichandran Ashwin defends 'experimental approach' of Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma

The veteran Indian all-rounder and World number-one Test bowler, Ravichandran Ashwin has come up with a hard comeback while hitting back at the critics of Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma. Notably, the Indian skipper, and head coach were on the receiving end of some criticism for ‘experiments’ in playing XI.

Notably, the performance of Team India was under the scanner after they lost to West Indies in the second ODI of the three-match series. The coach-captain duo of Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma, alongside team management, faced a flak to make some changes in the playing XI.

“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," said Ashwin bluntly in a video on his YouTube channel.

"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," he added later.

Some of them were perplexed - Ravichandran Ashwin

Apart from this, Ashwin also spoke about the critics who were trolling and criticizing Team India for losing the second ODI against West Indies, who didn’t even qualify for the Word Cup.

“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 favourites to win the World Cup is because of the IPL,” said Ashwin.

"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," he concluded.