The WTC Finals between India & Australia started yesterday at the Oval. India won the toss and elected to bowl first. Yes, it is a good toss to win and test the Australian batters with the Indian bowling attack.
But the Indian bowling attack is already with a big hole in the pace attack with the absence of Jasprit Bumrah. With the current form of Shami & Siraj someway it can be managed. The main slip is not picking Ashwin who is currently no 1 bowler in Test.
Day 1 – Ind Vs Aus WTC Final 2023
Rohit Sharma excluded Ashwin as India went for a four-seam attack along with Jadeja. But things haven’t gone to plan for them on day 1. Australia have 3 left handed batters which was Ashwin’s fort to keep them guessing and potentially ends up in the wicket. Since the wicket condition Rohit said that it is tough to drop Ashwin but the condition demands the 4 seamers attack.
At one stage Australia was 3 down for 93 runs and Siraj, Shami & Thakur picked each 1 wicket and India were at the top. But Travis Head joined with Smith and took the charge. On the other hand Umesh Yadav, does not’ get the rhythm and correct line and ends up leaking the runs. It is not about complaining about him, he is also one of the best fast bowlers in India when it’s coming to Test matches. But the Ashwin and Jadeja deadly combo will always be a headache to the opponents. When you are playing with one of them it means that you are intentionally downing your strength and giving more opportunities to the opponent.
Wrong Decision By Rohit & Winning Opportunity Is More For Australia
Ashwin spotted on the ground in between the drinks break and gave some inputs to the captain and bowlers. Why this piece of advice is needed is because of the brilliant innings by Travis Head. He attacked the bowlers continuously and scored boundaries at the regular interval. On the other side Smith struggled but managed to keep scoring runs. They two stitched 250 runs partnership. If Ashwin played in the main 11 then the Travis head would scurry a little bit and get out of his zone and be caught in Ashwin’s trap. But not these two scenarios did not happen yesterday.
Ashwin’ Formula Would Helped India To Won The WTC Finals
Ashwin is not only a threat for left hand batters. In the past faceoff he stabbed Smith’s wicket many times with some different field setup. Australia is also playing with the 1 spinner but their pace attack is more stronger than India. The situation is different if Ashwin is picked. It may look like Australia got all out on the first day with less than 350 runs.
On the first day the pitch helped batters more but still Ashwin is the better choice. Irrespective of the condition he has the ability to bring back the momentum even in the worst stage of the match. It may also help India to end the drought of World cup trophies.
PC: ICC
