Let’s take a look at India inviting Australia to the legendary world cup final. Ricky Ponting has called for India to select Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin for the ICC World Cup final.
Spinners Jadeja and Ashwin will play a pivotal role, especially after the duo dominated as India beat Australia 2-1 earlier in the year to retain the Border-Gavaskar trophy. However, with the WTC final starting on June 7 at The Oval in England for various reasons, their decisive choice is still unclear.
The spider twins have been separated in all five Tests, including the fourth match at The Oval when Jadeja favored Ashwin in India’s final 2021-22 tour of Great Britain. Jadeja had the least impact with the ball in this series, taking 6 wickets at an average of 56.16, but scored 287 runs, including a ton in the rescheduled fifth Test last year.
Former Australian skipper Ponting believes Jadeja’s ability to play with the bat rather than the ball will be important for his pairing partner Ashwin to join India’s XI for the WTC final. “I think they will pick Jadeja and Ashwin,” Ponting told The ICC Review.
“Jadeja can keep the sixth bat. His batting improved so much that he was picked as a batsman who could see a few balls if needed.”
Ashwin was in top form when India faced Australia on home soil earlier in the year and took 25 wickets alongside Jadeja to win the Man of the Series award.
The duo made the most of their spinner-friendly deliveries in this series, but Ashwin showed he could perform in all conditions to pick up the third-highest wicket in the current WTC cycle with 61 scalps in 13 Tests . The 36-year-old can add valuable runs for India, scoring 5 tons in 92 Tests.
“There is no doubt that Ashwin is a more skilled and better Test player than Jadeja,” Ponting said. “But if Jadeja can maintain that batting position and the game moves forward in the 4th and 5th when it starts to turn, you really have a first-class second-row bowling option. That’s what I have to do.”
Australia are expected to pick a specialist spinner for the WTC final and the stalwart Nathan Lyon will surely take the prize. Lyon equaled Jadeja’s 22 wickets in the last Test series between the two WTC finalists and beat Australia in the third match with match figures of 11/99.
The 35-year-old also currently leads all newcomers in the WTC cycle with 83 wickets from 19 Tests.
“When batsmen from the Indian subcontinent talk about spin bowling, you judge them by what they say,” Ponting said. “Everyone I’ve spoken to in India or Sri Lanka really likes Nathan Lyon.”
