The WTC final is to be played between India and Australia from June 7. In the first WTC final match, India lost by 8 wickets to New Zealand, the main reason for that defeat was considered to be the failure of both Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin. The second WTC final match is also to be played at the Oval Ground in England. If India has to win this match, then considering the conditions of the ground, the playing eleven will have to be selected.
Whether the wicket is for spinners or for medium pacers, India will have to give place to Ravindra Jadeja in the playing eleven. Jadeja is currently in the best form of his career and is performing brilliantly in batting apart from bowling, fielding.
Oval wicket has been called by Steve Smith as a spinner’s wicket and a wicket like India wickets; it can also be a trick, so the Indian team will get confused on Jadeja and Ashwin. Ravindra Jadeja has always been impressive on foreign soil and his game in England has always been of a high standard. The Oval ground has never hosted a Test match in month of June and in the last 10 matches, fast bowlers have had more success than spinners. Fast bowlers have taken 252 wickets and spinners have taken 68 wickets in the last 10 Tests at The Oval.
Ashwin, however superior Test match bowler then Jadeja but if India wants to give chance to only one spinner, it would be natural to prefer Jadeja’s batting, as Jadeja has always scored runs for India in adverse conditions and helped India in win. Ravichandran Ashwin has always been seen struggling on foreign soil with the ball.
There is a big difference in fielding of Ashwin and Jadeja, Jadeja is capable of turning the dice of any match even with fielding, and if India wants to play only one spinner, then it is natural for Jadeja to get priority. Other options are that Indian management will give chance to Ashwin and Jadeja both and reduce one batsman and feed four fast bowlers. In that case Shardul Thakur can be added to the playing eleven as he can bat as well, then the confusion of the team management on Jadeja and Ashwin will go away.
Overall, for Indian team management to decide on Ravindra Jadeja and Ravindra Ashwin will not be an easy task, Rohit Sharma’s career is on the decline, so Rohit Sharma will also want to write his name in the history book as a captain by winning the WTC final. . Only time will tell what team Rohit Sharma chooses as a captain, but having Ravindra Jadeja in the team looks vital.