India have opted to go in with both Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja for the World Test Championship final against New Zealand, beginning Friday in Southampton. But is the move a wise one?
“Look, we don’t know how the pitch there (in Southampton) is going to be, as it’s still early in the season. But yeah, spin-wise, India have the edge as their spinners can control the game,” former Pakistan opener and captain Aamer Sohail, who also used to bowl part-time left-arm spin, told The Telegraph from Lahore.
Ashwin (409) and Jadeja (220) have more than 600 wickets between themselves in the longest format. Not just the wickets, the two are much experienced in the game of building pressure on opposition batsmen which might eventually lead to them to making mistakes.
Ravichandran Ashwin. File photo
Former India left-arm spinner Maninder Singh believes that even if the conditions don’t favour the spinners much in Southampton, the Indian tweakers have it in them to make a difference.
“The fact that our spinners have taken so many wickets makes a huge difference in the first place,” pointed out Maninder.
“Our spinners are capable of striking even if conditions don’t favour spin. All they need is the belief in themselves to do it. And I’m sure (head coach) Ravi Shastri will speak to them as we know how good a motivator he is,” Maninder added.
Before bamboozling England at home, Ashwin had done well even on the last tour of Australia, foxing Steve Smith on wickets that did not offer much for the spinners. Jadeja too had the Australian batsmen under all sorts of trouble in the second innings at the MCG, where India clinched a series-levelling win.
To speak of the Black Caps spinners, they seem to play more of a supporting role for the pacers who are expected to take the bulk of the wickets. Such a strategy did work for New Zealand in recent times, but primarily in seaming conditions at home.
“New Zealand spinners need conditions that are very much spin-friendly. No disrespect to them, but they are slightly limited,” Sohail observed.
According to Dipak Patel, a former off-spinner who represented New Zealand in 37 Tests and 75 ODIs, “New Zealand is a bit of its own enemy” when it comes to spin bowling. “The problem with New Zealand is that they don’t bowl enough spin at home, which they should,” he said.
Patel, however, believes that New Zealand should keep choosing Mumbai-born Ajaz Patel, who put in a decent showing at Edgbaston against England, over Mitchell Santner in Test matches. The Black Caps have done exactly that as they ignored Santner keeping Ajaz instead in the final 15 for the WTC final. “Santner’s more of a white-ball specialist, while Ajaz has been more effective with the red ball and can win you matches.
“Besides, in Tests, it doesn’t make much sense in including a batting all-rounder (like Santner) and sending him at No.8 or 9,” Patel emphasised.
In his debut Test, during the 2018-19 season, Ajaz had picked up a five-for that led New Zealand to a thrilling four-run win over Pakistan in Abu Dhabi. He might be needed to repeat such a performance against India’s strong batting line-up, though New Zealand are coming off a morale-boosting series win over England.