WTC Final: Team India defends world no.1 bowler Ravichandran Ashwin’s ouster after poor opening day

Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is currently the No. 1 ranked bowler in the world in the ICC Test rankings. But Ashwin is sitting on the sidelines after being left out of the Indian playing 11 for the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia at the Oval in London.

Captain Rohit Sharma picked pace bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur and fast bowler Umesh Yadav over Ashwin, who is the highest wicket-taker for India in the WTC 2021-23 cycle. Ashwin has claimed 61 wickets in 13 Tests this cycle at an average of just 19.67 – the third most behind Australia’s Nathan Lyon and South African pacer Kagiso Rabada.

The move to drop Ashwin backfired after Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bowl first at the Kennington Oval in London on day one. Australia scored 327 for the loss of just 3 wickets, batting on 146 and 146 from Travis Head. Steve Smith is unbeaten after scoring 95 runs.

While Thakur took the wicket of David Warner before lunch on the first day, both Umesh Yadav and India’s lone spinner Ravindra Jadeja remained wicketless so far. Skipper Rohit said conditions dictate except for Ashwin and bowling coach Paras Mhambrey.

“It’s always a very difficult decision to drop such a champion bowler,” Mhambrey told the media after the end of the day’s play on Wednesday.

“But I felt the conditions in the morning, having an extra fast bowler would definitely be an advantage. It has worked in the past. You can always look back and say that (an) extra spinner would have been a different (story).”

For those who have doubts about Ravichandran Ashwin bowling with the red Dukes ball at The Oval. ,pic.twitter.com/JQ7VULxODr— North Stand Gang – Wankhede (@NorthStandGang) June 7, 2023

Mumbrey accused the Indian bowlers of losing discipline after a promising start. He said, ‘The first 12, 15 overs we really bowled in the right areas.’ “But after a short while, I felt we weren’t disciplined. That’s one of the reasons why I felt we gave away a few more runs than we would have ideally liked.”

Former India captain Sachin Tendulkar believed that a player as good as Ashwin did not need a turning track to be effective. Tendulkar said before the final, “Sometimes spinners rely too much on bounce, sometimes that little bit of zip that comes off the pitch, that too on overhead conditions, and it depends a lot on the shiny side of the ball.” Is.” Their website is 100mbsports. “If they’re able to get that drift, they can get the ball up in the air without a pitch coming into play.”

Former India opener Sunil Gavaskar also feels that India missed a move by not playing Ashwin in the WTC final. “India missed a trick by not playing Ravi Ashwin. He is the No. 1 ranked bowler, you don’t pay attention to the pitch for players like him,” Gavaskar told Star Sports.