India’s head coach Ravi Shastri has put his weight behind the selection of Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin in the World Test Championship final against New Zealand. India had picked their playing XI on Thursday and included both of their experienced spinners.
However, a lot of cricket experts including Sunil Gavaskar and Dale Steyn thought that India might change their playing XI as the toss could not take place on the opening day and there would be overcast conditions throughout the match. Thus, it was expected that India might bring in Mohammed Siraj in place of one of the spinners.
On the other hand, New Zealand have gone with an all-out pace attack as they have selected four front-line fast bowlers and left out Ajaz Patel.
India’s head coach Ravi Shastri backed Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja before the start of play on Day 2. Ashwin and Jadeja have all the experience under their bag and they have also improved their performances in overseas conditions. Furthermore, playing Ashwin and Jadeja adds more batting depth to the Indian team as both of them can deliver with the bat.
Ravi Shastri said while talking to Star Sports, “On a day like this it helps the fast bowlers get help, but when the sun comes out the spinners would come into play. Jadeja and Ashwin add that variety and they bowl well in tandem. They have close to 600-700 wickets and complement each other really well.”
On the other hand, Ravi Shastri added that the World Test Championship is the daddy of all World Cups as the Test format is the biggest and toughest version of the game.
“It’s the big daddy of all World Cups. I’ve played the 1983 World Cup, commentated on a few of them but this one is the biggest of them all. It’s the toughest format, biggest format and the job satisfaction is maximum. There are a lot of big players who’ve not got their hands on a World Cup, so playing in a big final is always special,” Ravi Shastri added.
India scored 146-3 in 64.4 overs on the second day of the World Test Championship final against the Kiwis.
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