(Image source: X.com)
[Saba Sports News] India off-spinner Ravichandran revealed the reason behind Australia opting to bowl first in the ODI World Cup 2023 final.
India lost to Australia in the summit clash of the recently-concluded ICC event by six wickets. Australia asked the hosts to bat on a bowling-friendly pitch at the Narendra Modi Stadium, restricting them to 240 runs in 50 overs.
Australia too lost three early wickets as India tried to break through the comeback window, however, Travis Head came in their way, scoring a century to lead his team to their sixth ODI World Cup title.
While Pat Cummins was first being criticized for his decision at the toss, he turned out right in the end as the surface eased up for the batters in the second innings.
Sharing more details about this on his YouTube channel, Ashwin opened up on his mid-innings chat with the Australia chairman of selectors George Bailey, who disclosed the reason of them going against the convention of setting the target in a game as big as a final.
“I was checking out if the pitch was disintegrating at the mid-innings
and I met George Bailey, the chief selector. I asked, ‘why didn’t you
guys bat first like you always do after winning the toss?’ For that, he
answered back, ‘We have played IPL and bilateral series for a long time
now, and in our experience, the red soil disintegrates but the black
soil gets better to bat on under lights. Dew is not a big impact on red
soil whereas black soil pitches are good turners in afternoon, but in
night, the pitch solidifies into a patta wicket and plays as though it
is made of concrete,'” Ashwin said as quoted on his official YouTube channel.
“I was flabbergasted listening to that. See, what is happening is that
all the experience from the IPL and the bilateral series… India is
becoming a central hub of world cricket. They can read the pitch
perfectly,” he added.
He even heaped praises on Australia skipper Cummins, who took the crucial wickets of Shreyas Iyer and Virat Kohli in the final.
Ashwin talked about Cummins’ brilliance with the ball, stating that the pacer made brilliant use of the variations by bowling according to the field placements.
Cummins was struggling as an ODI bowler heading into the World Cup. But
in the last four or five games leading into the final, nearly 50% of the
balls he bowled were cutters. In
the final – I don’t know how many people explained it on TV – Cummins
bowled to a four-five leg-side field like an offspinner, bowling the
stump line. But he bowled only three balls in the six-meter mark or
further up on the pitch in his entire ten-over spell. [He] knocked off
crucial wickets in the final. The five fielders on the on side were
square leg, midwicket, mid-on, deep square leg and long leg, and he
bowled his ten overs without a mid-off.
execution should be applauded. It is easy to plan to bowl
to a leg-side field. It is easier to bowl that way in a Test match
because the umpires will not call a wide even if you bowl a couple of
balls down leg. But
to not bowl a wide down leg in an ODI, execute the plans with that
field and not allow batters to drive the ball is brilliant. In my
experience, I have seen bowlers go for at least one or two fours with
such a field. It
was the first time I saw a fast bowler bowl to an offspinner’s field
without a mid-off in a one-day game. Tactical brilliance, tactical
execution. They had us there,” Ashwin asserted.