Sourav Ganguly, who used to be president of the BCCI, has questioned India’s choice to sit out spinner Ravichandran Ashwin in the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) at the Oval in London. He also praised Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon for getting rid of Ravindra Jadeja on Day 2 of the top match.
India got off to a good start on Day 2, thanks to Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill. However, India quickly lost their way as they lost their first five wickets in the second session. At the end of the day, India was 151/5 and 318 runs behind Australia. Australia’s five bowlers all got a wicket before Ajinkya Rahane and Ravindra Jadeja’s 71-run partnership for the fifth wicket gave India a lot of hope.
But Jadeja was out to Lyon for 48 runs in 51 balls, while Rahane was still not out at stumps with 29 runs in 71 balls and KS Bharat at the other end. At the same time, Lyon got rid of Jadeja, and Ganguly questioned why India didn’t play Ashwin, who is the best bowler in the ICC Test ranks.
I would have a hard time not letting Ashwin play XI: Sourav Ganguly
“Who says an off-spinner can’t play on a green pitch? Ravindra Jadeja, who bats left-handed, and Nathan Lyon. In Test cricket, he has taken more than 400 wickets. He got rid of India’s best hitter at this time. Ganguly told Star Sports that the ball turned and bounced.
The 50-year-old agreed that India has done well with four fast bowlers, but he said it would be hard for him to leave a spinner like Ashwin out of the playing XI.
“You see, that was an accident. I don’t believe in second thoughts, either. Before the toss, the captain makes a choice. India’s captain decided that they would go in with four fast bowlers. But in the last couple of years, they’ve had success with four pacers. They’ve won Test matches, but if you ask me, if I were captaining—and every captain is different; Rohit and I have different ideas—I would find it very hard to keep a spinner of Ashwin’s quality out of the XI,” he said.
Lyon, on the other hand, has taken 483 wickets in 121 Tests, with 117 of those coming against India in 27 games. On the other hand, Ashwin has taken 474 wickets in 92 Tests, 62 of which have come against Australia in 22 Tests.
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