IND vs AUS WTC Final: Ricky Ponting, Sourav Ganguly Lash Out At Indian Team Management. Here's Why

Ricky Ponting and Sourav Ganguly think otherwise. Both opined that India should have picked both Ashwin and Jadeja in their playing XI for IND vs AUS WTC Final 2023 match. 

India is squaring off against Australia in the final of World Test Championship (WTC 2023) Final at the Kennington Oval in London. Indian management took a very bold call by leaving out world's number one Test bowler Ravichandran Ashwin in India playing XI. Rohit Sharma opted to go with one spinner and four pacers for the mega event. Notably, India had played both Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin, two spinners, in playing XI against New Zealand in the inaugural edition of WTC Final in 2021/22. Even back then, the WTC Final was played in England, which New Zealand won against India. India again used two spinners in Test series against England in 2021/22 which ended in a draw.

While many believe Indian team management made a very wise decision by selecting only one spinner -- Ravindra Jadeja -- in India's Playing XI for ongoing WTC Final against Australia, former legendary captains Ricky Ponting and Sourav Ganguly think otherwise. Both opined that India should have picked both Ashwin and Jadeja in their playing XI for IND vs AUS WTC Final 2023 match. 

"See it's an afterthought. And I don't believe in afterthoughts. As a captain, you take a decision before the toss and India had decided that they would go in with 4 fast bowlers. Having said that, in the last couple of years they have had success in the last couple of years with 4 pacers.

"They've won Test matches but if you ask me... if I was captaining - and every captain is different - Rohit and I think differently. I would find it very hard to keep a spinner out of Ashwin's quality out of the XI," said Ganguly On Star Sports in the mid-innings break.

"India have fallen into the trap of picking an attack for the first inning of this Test match only. The reason why I was surprised that Ashwin was left out is because of the number of left-handers Australia have. There's no doubt in my mind that Ashwin would have bowled a lot better than Jadeja later on in the Test.

"The big decision that they had to make was between Thakur and Umesh. I was leaning towards Thakur because he would be my workhorse to give a bit of a break to the strike bowlers Shami and Siraj. You can go to Jadeja for a couple of overs just to tie the game down a bit," said Ponting while doing commentary.