'I couldn’t take it anymore. I hated the fact...': Ashwin breaks silence on explosive tweet after WTC final omission

Ashwin put out an explosive tweet moments after India's second consecutive loss in the WTC final and later explained it as an act of getting "closure".

It has been a fortnight since Ravichandran Ashwin incurred that heartbreaking omission in the World Test Championship final against Australia at The Oval. Despite being India's top wicket-taker in the second WTC cycle and the No.1 ranked ICC Test bowler, Ashwin was dropped to make way for an extra seamer, a move which was highly criticised and later proved to be a pivotal reason behind India's 209-run loss. Ashwin later put out an explosive tweet moments after India's second consecutive loss in the WTC final and later explained it as an act of getting "closure".

Ashwin opens up on the tweet he put out after India's loss in WTC Final

Of his 474 career wickets, 132 came in the two WTC cycles he has been part of, the second highest in the tournament's history. And 61 of those were picked in the 2021/23 cycle, the most by an Indians and third-highest overall. Yet, Ashwin, who is also know for his batting abilities with five Test centuries to his name, was ignored by captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid.

Moments after the loss, Ashwin took to Twitter to express his disappointment over India's loss and despite the “scathing assessments”, he acknowledged the efforts made by the team members over the two-year cycle.

“Congratulations Australia on winning this #WTCFinal and closing out this cycle of test cricket. It is disappointing to end up on the wrong side of things, nevertheless it was a great effort over the last 2 years or so to get here in the first place. Amidst all the chaos and scathing assessments, i feel it’s very important to acknowledge all my team mates who played in this cycle and most importantly the coaching and support staffs who have held on like a rock of support,” he had tweeted.

Speaking to Indian Express in the wake of the WTC final snub, Ashwin explained that the tweet was an act to get closure so that he could move on from the heartbreaking episode. He also opened up on the stress it put on his family, especially his father.

"The moment, the final finished I put out a tweet because I realised one thing is that I need closure. The moment I get the closure I can move on. There is no time to hang around. I have understood life a lot better now.

The more I see it, the kind of trauma toll it takes on my family is incredible. My father has a heart problem and other issues. Every single game, every single day, something happens, he will call me. He is stressed. It’s very easy for me to go out and play because it is still in my control. For my father, it is not and he goes through double of what I do. So looking at this in hindsight, everybody on the outside is irrelevant," he said.

The veteran off-spinner also admitted that he doesn't like pointing fingers at others for what happens or happened in his career and hence hated the sympathy messages he got after being snubbed in the WTC final, which he explained as another reason behind putting out that tweet.

"I have got no sympathy for my journey. It’s very easy for me to go back and say, okay, this didn’t happen for me or something happened for him. I don’t give myself one second of sympathy. That’s why I put that tweet because I wanted closure. I hated the fact that people are giving me sympathy, I just couldn’t take it anymore.

In this social media age, you don’t play and sometimes you are bigger than if you had played the game, right? People are talking, ‘if he had played we would have won’. I am not sure if I had played, we would have won. I would have given my best and I definitely think I gave myself the best opportunity to succeed there. I also think I earned my stripes. That’s all I can do. But the moment it got done, I just wanted to move on and focus on the TNPL for Dindigul Dragons," he concluded.