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Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly has once again stirred up the debate around dropping Ravichandran Ashwin from the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia.
Rohit Sharma didn't consider Ashwin in India's Playing XI and instead went with four-seamer-and-one-spinner combination. But the decision to leave out Ashwin in the ultimate title clash backfired India as their bowling unit sans the ace spinner looked ineffective on Day 1 which helped Australian batters unleash themselves and cruise towards a big total. India could only pick three wickets on Day 1 which saw Travis Head and Steve Smith make a mockery of Indian bowlers. Riding on exceptional centuries from Head (163) and Smith (121) Australia piled up a huge total of 469 on Day 2. Mohammed Siraj, was pick of the bowler for India who took a four-fer (4/108) to bundle out Australian batters before they surge towards 500-run mark.
Australia also played the same four-seamer-and-one-spinner combination but they opted for an off-spinner unlike India. While India trusted leggie Ravindra Jadeja, Australia included Nathan Lyon in their playing XI. After posting a colossal total, Australia then put up a show with their disciplined bowling to break Indian batters' back on Day 2. All the five Australia's bowlers snared a wicket to leave India reeling at 151/5. But what caught Ganguly's attention was Jadeja's wicket off Lyon's bowling which was effected in the 35th over. After losing Rohit (15), Shubman Gill (13), Cheteshwar Pujara (14) and Virat Kohli (14), it was Jadeja (48) and Ajinkya Rahane who steadies India's boat with a 73-run partnership. But before Jadeja could complete his fifty, Lyon provided Australia an important breakthrough and got rid of the star all-rounder with a stunning delivery to once again push India on the backfoot.
After Lyon grabbed the prized wicket of Jadeja, Ganguly took no time and launched an attack on Rohit and India head coach Rahul Dravid for World no.1 Test bowler Ashwin's omission.
“Who says off-spinner can’t play on a green pitch? Left-handed batter [Ravindra Jadeja] and Nathan Lyon. He has more than 400 wickets in Test cricket. At this moment, he dismissed India’s best batter. [It had both] Turn and Bounce," he said.
Ganguly meanwhile heaped praise on Lyon for giving Australia a breakthrough which they were looking for.
“Remember, he doesn’t only take wickets in the sub-continent. He takes wickets in Australia as well. [Brilliant] Seam position, [there was] bounce, it drifted slightly as well. It’s not that the ball doesn’t grip when there is grass. For me, he is all-time great," he added.
This was the second instance during the ongoing WTC final, when Ganguly alsong with other cricket pundits rued Ashwin's absence from India's playing XI.
"India missed a trick by not including a match-winner like R Ashwin. In hindsight, it seems he would have been a better call, as Jadeja isn’t getting the support from the other end. Jadeja is putting pressure from his end, but there is no one to choke the flow of runs from the other side," Ganguly had earlier said on the opening day of the WTC final.
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