Cricket

WTC Final 2023: India have fallen into the trap of picking an attack for the 1st inning only – Ricky Ponting slams decision to drop Ashwin

Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting slammed India’s decision to drop Ravichandran Ashwin for the World Test Championship final against Australia. Ponting feels India has fallen into the trap of picking an attack for the first innings only.

The two-time World Cup-winning captain was baffled by India’s decision to drop play Ravindra Jadeja ahead of Ravichandran Ashwin as he feels the latter would have bowled better than the former. Ponting believes he would have picked one bowler between Umesh Yadav and Shardul Thakur but India went with both.

In fact, Ravichandran Ashwin is the number one Test bowler with 869 rating points. Furthermore, there can be spin on offer at the Oval in the second innings and thus dropping Ashwin was a surprising decision from India.

Meanwhile, India went with two spinners in the WTC Final against New Zealand in 2021 but the decision backfired as they suffered an eight-wicket loss.

On the other hand, Rohit Sharma won the toss and decided to bowl first against Australia with overcast conditions on offer.

“India have fallen into the trap of picking an attack for the first inning of this Test match only. The reason why I was surprised that Ashwin was left out is because of the number of left-handers Australia have. There’s no doubt in my mind that Ashwin would have bowled a lot better than Jadeja later on in the Test,” Ponting said on air during commentary.

“The big decision that they had to make was between Thakur and Umesh. I was leaning towards Thakur because he would be my workhorse to give a bit of a break to the strike bowlers Shami and Siraj. You can go to Jadeja for a couple of overs just to tie the game down a bit,” he added.

After lunch on the opening day, Australia was 73-2 with David Warner and Usman Khawaja dismissed. Assessing the performance of the Indian bowlers, Ponting added the bowlers will have to accept that they are going to get driven by the batters if they bowl a fuller length.

“If India had bowled really well then 60 percent would have been on the fuller side and 20 percent on a good length. I made a point earlier, the bowlers will have to accept that they are gonna get driven every now and then. What the captain can do is maybe have his mid-off and mid-on straighter and deeper which just gives the bowlers encouragement to pitch it up.”

Australia are 117-3 after 34 overs with Steve Smith and Travis Head batting in the middle.

About the Author


Written by DafaNews

DafaNews brings you the most highlighted news in the world of Sports. It serves you up-to-date matches, scores, live streams, fantasy games and quizzes. Our news covers India's prestigious leagues and events – Premier League, Pro Kabbadi League, Cricket World Cup and many more. Follow DafaNews on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter,Telegram and Youtube for more updates.

Related Post
Share
Published by
DafaNews

Recent Posts

“Never expected a very easy run” – Gautam Gambhir reflects on his tenure as coach after IND vs NZ 2024 Test series defeat

India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir has admitted that he never expected a very easy run… Read More

October 31, 2024

Probably has a lot to do with playing on flat wickets in T20 – Gautam Gambhir on decline of good defensive technique in Test cricket

India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir feels T20 cricket has led to the downfall of a… Read More

October 31, 2024

India needs Mumbai Test win before Australia tour – Gautam Gambhir

Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir feels the Rohit Sharma-led team desperately needs to win the… Read More

October 31, 2024

I cannot say just the batters have let us down – Gautam Gambhir feels everyone should take responsibility for series loss against New Zealand

India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir refused to blame the batters after the team’s 2-0 series… Read More

October 31, 2024

It was insane – Bronny James after scoring his first NBA bucket

Los Angeles Lakers rookie Bronny James was on cloud nine after he managed to score… Read More

October 31, 2024

I’m happy with my team’s performance: Mohun Bagan SG head coach Jose Molina after win against Hyderabad FC

Mohun Bagan Super Giant head coach Jose Molina was delighted with the team’s performance after… Read More

October 31, 2024