Former BCCI President Sourav Ganguly took a dig at Indian skipper Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid over their decision to drop World No.1 spinner Ravichandran Ashwin from the playing 11 against Australia citing green top surface in Kennington, Oval.
Ravichandran Ashwin has been an asset for India in longer formats of games, ever since the retirement of legendary Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, and has been the best bowler for the Indian team in the World Test Championship cycle (2021-23) was dropped in the favour of Shardul Thakur in the Ultimate final against Australia.
Speaking to Broadcasters, Sourav Ganguly questioned Ravichandran Ashwin’s absence from the team, stating the example of Nathan Lyon dismissing India’s best batter Ravindra Jadeja in the first innings and reckons that the Australian spinner has a good amount of turn and bounce from the surface.
“Who says an 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,” Sourav Ganguly said.
The veteran all-rounder is India’s second-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket of all time – 474 wickets at 23.93 – only behind Anil Kumble. He was also the leading wicket-taker for India in the Border Gavaskar Trophy at – 25 wickets, but could not find a place in the Indian team.
India Missed A Trick By Not Including A Match-winner Like Ravichandran Ashwin – Sourav Ganguly
Sourav Ganguly feels that the Indian team management made a huge blunder by leaving out a match-winner like Ravichandran Ashwin for the grand final, as Ravindra Jadeja didn’t receive enough support from the other end as the bowlers could not stop a run-flow by Australian batters.
“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,” Sourav Ganguly added.
Shardul Thakur, who replaced Ravichandran Ashwin could not play the role of fourth pacer in the team, as he could not make an impact for the team, as many experts and fans criticized Indian management’s decision to drop Ashwin from the team.
Indian batters once again crumbled under pressure against the mighty Australian bowling attack, as India lost their top 4 wickets for just 71, At the end of Day 2, the Indian team was 151-5, with Ajinkya Rahane and KS Bharat batting in the middle and will look to put on the partnership to reduce the massive lead in the 1st innings.