Ashish Ranjan
Former BCCI president Sourav Ganguly questioned India’s decision to sideline spinner Ravichandran Ashwin in The Oval’s World Test Championship (WTC) final. In addition, he praised Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon for dismissing Ravindra Jadeja on the second day of the championship match.
India got off to a good start on Day 2 thanks to Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill, but they soon lost their way as they lost their first five wickets in the second session. India finished the day at 151/5, 318 runs behind Australia. Each of Australia’s five bowlers took a wicket prior to Ajinkya Rahane and Ravindra Jadeja’s fifth-wicket partnership of 71 runs, which gave India hope.
Jadeja was dismissed by Lyon for 48 runs off 51 balls, while Rahane remained unbeaten at stumps with 29 runs off 71 balls and KS Bharat at the other end. While Lyon was dismissing Jadeja, Ganguly questioned India’s decision not to include Ashwin, the top-ranked bowler in the ICC Test rankings.
I would have a difficult time keeping Ashwin out of the playing XI: Sourav Ganguly
“Who says a leg-spinner cannot play on a verdant cricket pitch? Left-handed batsman Ravindra Jadeja and right-handed batter Nathan Lyon. He has taken in excess of 400 wickets in Test cricket. He dismissed India’s finest batter at this time. “The ball had both spin and bounce,” said Ganguly to Star Sports.
Ganguly, 50, acknowledged that India has had success with four pacers, but he stated that it would be challenging for him to leave Ashwin out of the playing XI.
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“This is a mere afterthought. And I have no faith in afterthoughts. As captain, you make a decision prior to the toss, and India’s captain had determined that his team would field four fast bowlers. In spite of this, they have had success with four pacers over the past few years. They’ve won Test matches, but if you ask me… if I were captaining – and every captain is different; Rohit and I think differently – I would find it extremely difficult to leave Ashwin out of the XI,” he added.
Meanwhile, Lyon has taken 483 wickets in 121 Tests, including 117 against India in 27 matches. In contrast, Ashwin has taken 474 wickets in 92 Tests, including 62 wickets in 22 Tests against Australia.
