"Oval is going to be good venue for India" - Sachin Tendulkar feels the Men in Blue can make an impression with spin in the WTC final
Legendary Indian batter Sachin Tendulkar has opined that Team India should include two frontline spinners in their playing XI for the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia which starts today.
There is a raging debate regarding the bowling combination with Ravichandran Ashwin and Shardul Thakur both emerging as lucrative options in the playing XI. Team India skipper Rohit Sharma stated in the pre-match press conference that a late call will be taken on the morning of the encounter in terms of the selection of a second spinner.
Expecting spin to play a role in the contest at The Oval over the course of its progress, Sachin Tendulkar noted on his website 100mbsports:
"The Indian team will be happy that they are playing at the Oval. The nature of the Oval pitch is such that it assists the spinners as the match goes on. So, spinners will come into play a little bit. It need not be always a turning track as sometimes the spinners rely a lot on the bounce, sometimes that little bit of zip that they get off the pitch, also on the overhead conditions and it depends a lot on the shiny side of the ball."
He continued:
"If they are able to get that drift, they can make the ball talk in the air without the pitch coming into play. So, Oval is going to be good venue for India."
Playing Ravindra Jadeja as the lone spinner during the 2021 tour worked for the team, with Shardul Thakur doing a commendable job across both departments as well. On the other hand, Ravichandran Ashwin's last Test appearance in England came in 2018.
The sunny weather conditions and the history of the Oval pitch may encourage the team to play two spinners, especially with Shardul Thakur not bowling on a regular basis of late.
"The pitch actually changes quite a bit from day to day" - Team India skipper Rohit Sharma
Team India fared well at The Oval last time around, securing a famous 157-run win courtesy of heroics from Rohit Sharma and Shardul Thakur.
However, with different conditions and a different opposition in sight, the Men in Blue will have to devise a different approach to secure yet another win at the venue.
At the pre-match press conference ahead of the WTC Final, skipper Rohit Sharma spoke about the decision to finalize the bowling combination at the last minute.
“Yeah, see, I've not said that Ashwin is not going to play. We'll wait until tomorrow - because one thing I have seen here - the pitch actually changes quite a bit from day to day. Today it's looking the way it is. Tomorrow it might be slightly different, who knows," he said.
Will Ravichandran Ashwin find a place in the playing XI? Let us know what you think.