Team India bowling coach Paras Mhambrey defended the decision to drop Ravichandran Ashwin for the World Test Championship final against Australia, which got underway on Wednesday, June 7 at The Kennington Oval in London. Bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur got a chance ahead of Ravichandran Ashwin. The decision was criticized by several former cricketers including Sunil Gavaskar, Ricky Ponting, etc.
Team India won the toss and opted to bowl first. They got an early breakthrough by dismissing Usman Khawaja. After the Lunch session, Australia was reduced to 76/3. However, Travis Head’s blazing century along with Steve Smith’s responsible batting put them in the driver’s seat. They are 327/3 at the end of the first day’s play.
Speaking at the press conference, Paras Mhambrey, India’s bowling coach explained the decision to drop Ravichandran Ashwin. He said,
“It is always a very difficult decision to drop a champion bowler like him. Looking at the conditions in the morning we thought an additional seamer would be beneficial. It has also worked in the past for us. Seamers have done well out here for us. You can always look back and say that an additional spinner would have been beneficial but we took the call looking at the conditions.”
“When team discussion happens, we talk about composition over a period of days. We trained here for three-four days before the game and seeing the wicket, conversations happen with players. The players also understand that (the importance of team combination),” he added.
The morning session on day two will be important: Paras Mhambrey
Team India leaked runs during the first day’s play against Australia at The Kennington Oval in London in the World Test Championship final. They took the second new ball after 80 overs, which provided a bit of help to the pacers. However, they couldn’t break the partnership. Bowling coach Paras Mhambrey believes India can make a comeback into the match if they picked up wickets in the morning on the second day. He said,
“The second new ball did a bit. The morning session will be important. The wicket played better than our expectations in the last two sessions today.”
Travis Head and Steve Smith have put a record-breaking partnership of 251 runs. This is the highest fourth-wicket partnership for Australia at the venue. Travis Head is unbeaten on 146 runs off 156 deliveries, with 22 boundaries and a six. Meanwhile, Steve Smith is approaching his 31st Test century and will resume batting on 95 runs. \
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