WTC Final: India Bowling Coach Defends Decision to Not Pick Ashwin, Says it was ‘Purely Based on Conditions’

Ravichandran Ashwin is currently the World no. 1 bowler in Test cricket and yet was not picked for the India vs Australia World Test Championship (WTC) final which got underway at The Oval on Wednesday.

India bowling coach Paras Mhambrey said the ‘difficult’ decision to leave out Ashwin was based purely on conditions. Conditions have been cold and overcast at The Oval, especially in the morning, over the past three days but day one saw bright sunshine in the afternoon and evening session.

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“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 additional spinner would have been beneficial but we took the call looking at the conditions,” said Mhambrey, after Australia reached 327 for three on day one after being put in to bat. Australia were in a commanding position despite losing the toss, with Tavis Head 146 not out and Steve Smith 95 not out.

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Asked what kind of communication took place with the player who is not included in the eleven, he said: “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).”

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The bowling coach said India can surely bounce back in the game.

“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,” he said.

No fitness issues with Umesh Yadav

Umesh Yadav bowled only 14 overs in the day but Mhambrey said he had no fitness issues. He also felt bowlers could have done better.

“We could have been more disciplined. After 12-13 overs, we lacked discipline. I felt we conceded more runs that we would have preferred,” he said adding that they could have employed the short ball tactics earlier than they did.

(With inputs from Agencies)