India’s own follies contribute to the Oval disaster

Bengaluru: India’s hopes of adding an ICC trophy to their cabinet after 2013 were crushed mercilessly by Australia during the WTC final, but Rohit Sharma’s men had to pay for their own follies too at the Oval.

The train of inanity started with the team selection and that percolated into the shot selection of the much-vaunted India top-order batsmen.

So, let’s start over from that selection fumble. India decided not to pick Ravichandran Ashwin, the No 1 Test bowler by the current ICC Rankings.

But even if you discount the ranking factor, the veteran off-spinner has been India’s most successful bowler in the 2021-2023 WTC cycle, taking 61 wickets from 13 matches.

In team management’s defence, they can say most of those 61 victims were scalped during home games on designer tracks. The team management might have been befooled by the tinge of green on the pitch and the overhead conditions while taking that call, also the decision to bat first. India bowling Paras Mhambrey said precisely that.

“It’s always a very difficult decision to drop a champion bowler (Ashwin) like that. But looking at the conditions in the morning, I thought having the additional seamer would definitely be beneficial. It has worked for us in the past,” said Mhambrey in a post-day press do. But then teams wanting to write history hardly operate on past precedents.

India hardly seemed to have tailored in the factor that Australia have four left-handers among their top seven batters, and Ashwin’s proficiency against the southpaws is well-chronicled.

This is not to say that Ravindra Jadeja does not merit a place but when you have as potent a weapon as Ashwin in your ranks.