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New Delhi: Former India coach Greg Chappell felt that Rohit Sharma and Co. should go with two spinners in Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin against Australia in the World Test Championship (WTC) final at the Oval starting from June 7.
Both Jadeja and Ashwin were on the top of their game against Australia in the Border Gavaskar Trophy, taking nearly 50 wickets (combined) and helping India to win the four-Test series 2-1. Besides their bowling prowess, Chappell felt the duo’s batting will also be a bonus for the Indian team in the final.
“If you ask me I think India should go in with two spinners. Ashwin and Jadeja have both been fantastic for India and you need to go in with your best bowlers. And even if Jadeja doesn’t pick too many wickets he will not leak runs and hold one end up,” Chappell told RevSportz.
“That will give the fast bowlers the breather they need. And Jadeja’s batting has been fantastic at the Test level in the last few years. Coming to Ashwin he is one of the best of this generation. He thinks deep and that stands him apart,” added the former Australian batter.
Chappell also elaborated on how Ashwin will be a difficult bowler to handle from Day 3. “With (Mitchell) Starc bowling from over the wicket Ashwin will also have the footmarks to use from Day 3 onwards. Also he has a slight mental edge over the Australians from the last Border Gavaskar Trophy.
“And when you add his batting at number 8, he is a key player for India and I think they should play both spinners for the simple reason that they are both quality players with plenty of experience,” he said. An all-rounder himself, during his playing days, Chappell also stated that Australians should be wary of pacers Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj.
“I don’t think the Indian bowling attack is any less to Australia. Shami is a very good bowler and Siraj has been in very good rhythm in the IPL. They will pose as much difficulty for the Australians as the Australians will for the Indians,” he said. Both the teams have already started practice and are training hard ahead of the big final.
Australia: Pat Cummins (C), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy, Steve Smith (VC), Mitchell Starc, David Warner
Standby: Mitch Marsh, Matthew Renshaw
India: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, KS Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, and Ishan Kishan (wk).
Standby: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Mukesh Kumar, Suryakumar Yadav
(Written By Utkarsh Rathour)
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