Never thought my run at World Cup would end with 1st match itself: Ravichandran Ashwin

India's ODI World Cup 2023 campaign ended with a loss to Australia in the summit clash on Sunday, November 19 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Ravichandran Ashwin, who was a part of the 2011 World Cup-winning side, was added to India's 15-member squad for the recently concluded edition of the marquee event at the last minute as a replacement for the injured Axar Patel.

However, the premier off-spinner played just one game, which was India's opening fixture against the Aussies at Chepauk. He was subsequently left out of the playing XI for the remainder of the tournament. The experienced campaigner recently said that he couldn't believe that he played just one game in the 10-team event.

"Never thought my run at World Cup would end with 1st match itself," Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

"Because I was bowling with good rhythm. I would like to say what happened to our plans behind the scenes. both Rahul (Dravid) bhai and Rohit (Sharma) had mentioned that they had well-laid-out strong plans. This World Cup had us playing an exciting brand of cricket and we played outstandingly well and one of the primary reasons for that is the effort they put in and their schematic thinking and everything was thought out tactically down the wire. Who had to play which games, which games are to be played with four fast bowlers, and which games are to be played with three fast bowlers and three spinners. All these combinations were perfectly thought out," Ashwin added.

The 37-year-old revealed that he was scheduled to return to the side for the game against New Zealand in Dharamsala. However, Hardik Pandya twisted his ankle in the previous game against Bangladesh and was subsequently ruled out of the tournament. Ashwin explained that there was no all-rounder in the squad who could replace Hardik, and that is why the 'Men in Blue' brought in Suryakumar Yadav and Mohammed Shami into the playing XI against the Kiwis and continued with three pacers and two spinners for the rest of the tournament.

"Exactly as we planned, after the Australia game, Shardul played in the XI for two or three (three) games. And after that leg, exactly when my turn was supposed to come versus New Zealand at Dharamsala, Hardik had a heartbreaking injury. More heartbreaking according to me as it was a crucial handover to the team. Hardik Pandya was an important factor to the team as we did not have an all-rounder to replace him [when] the injury flared up I believe. Since he was not available, our team's combination changed from playing a sixth bowling option and made us play only five bowlers (including two spinners or three spinners). Suryakumar Yadav stepped into the team post that and he played his role very well in our match against England," the Chennai-born stated.