Here's how Australia's Pat Cummins' call to bowl first in World Cup final bamboozled Ravi Ashwin
Here's how Cummins' call to bowl first in World Cup final bamboozled Ashwin Photograph:( AFP )
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Australia bowled first and restricted India to an under-par total of 240, putting them on the backfoot straightaway. Although with Shami and Bumrah picked three early wickets inside the Powerplay, Travis Head’s second World Cup hundred (137 off 120 balls) saw Australia through with six wickets in hand.
Australia bowled first and restricted India to an under-par total of 240, putting them on the backfoot straightaway. Although with Shami and Bumrah picked three early wickets inside the Powerplay, Travis Head’s second World Cup hundred (137 off 120 balls) saw Australia through with six wickets in hand.
Pat Cummins won the toss and decided to take the trophy home in the World Cup 2023 final in Ahmedabad. Cummins’ call to bowl first raised quite a few eyebrows. Everyone, including the pundits and commentators, questioned such tactics. Less did they know that decision would eventually silence the spectators. India’s Ravi Ashwin was one of them, admitting to have been deceived by the Australian tactics.
Australia bowled first and restricted India to an under-par total of 240, putting them on the backfoot straightaway. Although with Mohammad Shami and Jaspreet Bumrah picked three early wickets inside the Powerplay, Travis Head’s second World Cup hundred (137 off 120 balls) saw Australia through with six wickets in hand.
Days after the heartbreaking loss, Ravi Ashwin, on his YouTube channel, admitted to being stunned by Cummins’ call in the first place.
Upon getting an answer from Oz chief selector George Bailey during the mid-innings, he was left bamboozled.
Despite knowing how well India defended totals, even relatively smaller ones (like against England) in the lead-up to the World Cup final, Australia took a brave call to bowl first on the day when it mattered the most.
That brought them laurels, considering their reading of the pitch and how batting would become easier in the second innings.
Speaking on those lines, Ashwin revealed, “Australia totally deceived me personally. I had a chat with George Bailey during the mid-innings, and I asked him why you guys didn’t bat first like you always do.
"He answered back, ‘We have played IPL & bilateral series here a lot. Red soil disintegrates, but not the black soil & it gets better under lights. There is no impact of dew on red soil, but black soil gives a good turn in the afternoon & then it will become a concrete at night. This is our experience.”
Pat did a Dhoni in the World Cup final
Like how MS Dhoni turned the tables around in the 2011 World Cup final, delivering on the D-day despite not being in the best of runs in the lead-up, Australia captain Pat Cummins had an almost similar run.
His performance and leadership in the CWC final had Australia’s nose in the front throughout.
Applauding Cummins on his star-studded performance, Ashwin said, “Pat Cummins bowled a crucial spell. He got rid of Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer. Cummins was not having a great World Cup but came back to form in the last four games. He bowled a lot of off-cutters. Even in the final, he didn’t pitch the ball up to rule out the possibility of drives.”
