With India tottering in the final of the World Test Championship against Australia, former Australia cricketer Damien Fleming believes that Team India might have made a mistake not to include Ravichandran Ashwin in the playing XI.
Speaking to SEN, an Australian radio broadcaster, Fleming wondered whether the Indian team outsmarted themselves. He also pointed out that India decided to bat first after winning the toss 34 times and that Aswin could have been used in the match by the end of the day.
He also felt that Team India should have included Ashwin as seamers Shardul Thakur and Umesh Yadav have so far not been able to trouble the Australian batsmen much. While trying to deliberate on India’s decision to bowl first, Fleming felt that Team India might have taken the decision due to a little bit of grass on the pitch.
Expressing his concern over India’s debt in the batting line-up, Flemming went on to add that KS Bharat, who is batting at number 6, averages 20 against the Aussies, and then bowling all-rounders in Jadeja, who will be left to bat with lower orders.
Meanwhile, former Australian captain Steve Waugh has also slammed Team India’s poor selection of the playing XI saying that R Aswin should have been included in the playing squad due to the trickiness of the pitch.
Earlier, several other great cricketers like Sourav Ganguly, Ricky Ponting, and Sanjay Manjrekar also expressed this dismay over Ashwin being left out, considering he is currently the world’s number one bowler in Test cricket.
Waugh also recalled how Australia made a similar mistake against England in the fifth Test at The Oval in the year 2019. England went on to win the match by 145 runs after Tim Paine decided to bowl first. “We made the same blunder four years ago in the Ashes. The Oval is always tricky,” he was quoted as saying by the Australian Associated Press.