Ricky Ponting opined India will miss Ashwin's services as the game progresses
Former Australia skipper Rohit Sharma and Ricky Ponting did not see eye to eye in the lead-up to the World Test Championship final between India and Australia and their differences persisted when play began on Day 1 at The Oval. Following Ponting’s claim that Australia had a slight advantage due to the conditions, Rohit downplayed its significance, which only intensified the criticism from the renowned Australian.
Ponting, along with Dinesh Karthik, expressed disapproval of the lengths at which the Indian pacers, namely Shami, Siraj, Shardul, and Umesh, bowled with the new ball. While Siraj stood out as the most effective bowler, taking the wicket of Usman Khawaja for a duck, the remaining bowlers struggled with either being too short or wayward.
“India have possibly fallen into the trap and picked a team for the first innings and might miss Ashwin by days 3-4,” Ricky Ponting said while commentating on air.
“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, ” he added.
On the other hand, David Warner exhibited the best performance among the Australian batsmen. Despite the early dismissal of Khawaja and facing a challenging spell from Siraj, Warner persevered and gradually became more aggressive when Umesh Yadav joined the attack. Just as the left-hander seemed poised for a significant innings, he unfortunately gloved one down the leg side and was caught behind for 43 off Shardul Thakur.
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At lunch on Day 1, Australia stood at 73/2 with Marnus Labuschagne (26*) and Steve Smith (1*) at the crease.
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