India defended leaving out the world바카라s No. 1-ranked test bowler on the first day of the World Test Championship final at the Oval on Wednesday.
Offspinner Ravichandran Ashwin was dropped for Umesh Yadav after conditions were deemed more suitable for a fourth seamer.
But the decision backfired. The green-tinged pitch lost its bite when the sun came out after an hour. India took only three wickets and none for most of the last four hours. Australia finished on 327-3 after an unbeaten partnership of 251 runs by Travis Head (146) and Steve Smith (95).
Yadav and the sole spinner, allrounder Ravindra Jadeja, went wicketless in 28 overs. There didn바카라t appear to be much turn for Jadeja on the first day.
Captain Rohit Sharma said the conditions dictated excluding Ashwin, a frequent match-winner for India, and bowling coach Paras Mhambrey defended it.
바카라It바카라s always a very difficult decision to drop a champion bowler like that,바카라 Mhambrey said. 바카라But I thought the conditions in the morning, having the additional seamer would definitely be beneficial. It has worked in the past. You can always look at hindsight, saying (an) additional spinner would have been a different (story).바카라
Mhambrey blamed the India bowlers for losing their discipline after a bright start.
바카라The first 12, 15 overs, we really bowled in the right areas,바카라 he said. 바카라But after a little bit, I thought we kind of weren바카라t disciplined. That바카라s one of the reasons I thought we conceded a little more runs than we ideally would have preferred.바카라
Former India captain Sachin Tendulkar believed a player as good as Ashwin didn바카라t need a turning track to be effective.
바카라Sometimes the spinners rely a lot on the bounce, sometimes that little bit of zip that they get off the pitch, also on the overhead conditions, and it depends a lot on the shiny side of the ball,바카라 Tendulkar said before the final on his website 100mbsports. 바카라If they are able to get that drift, they can make the ball talk in the air without the pitch coming into play.바카라
Also, former Australia wicketkeeper Brad Haddin believed the fierce competitor in Ashwin would have overcome any doubts.
바카라It (Ashwin) would바카라ve been the first name I would바카라ve looked at (on the team sheet) if I was one of the (opposition바카라s) left-handers,바카라 Haddin told espncricinfo website. 바카라You want a player, especially in a big event like this, who walks towards the fire. And Ashwin바카라s definitely one of those guys against Australia.바카라
