India won the toss and opted to bowl in the World Test Championship (WTC) Final against Australia at The Oval. Ahead of the game, Rohit Sharma admitted that picking Ravindra Jadeja over R Ashwin 'wasn't a great occasion'.
India won the toss and decided to bowl first in the crucial World Test Championship (WTC) Final against Australia at the iconic Oval in London. At the toss, Indian captain Rohit Sharma confirmed that the team has gone with four seamers and one spinner, and the spinner is 'Ravindra Jadeja'. The captain admitted that leaving veteran spinner R Ashwin for the ultimate Test 'wasn't a great occasion'.
Meanwhile, at the toss Australian skipper Pat Cummins admitted that he would have loved to bowl first had he won the toss and confirmed Scott Boland has taken injured Josh Hazelwood's place in the playing XI.
🚨 Toss Update 🚨 has won the toss & have elected to bowl against Australia in the Final
Follow the match ▶️ https://t.co/0nYl21pwaw pic.twitter.com/Kcn0xWDGrT
🚨 A look at 's Playing XI 🔽
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India's playing XI: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, KS Bharat†, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj
Australia playing XI: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland
India has been the most reliable team throughout the last two WTC cycles, and they have also been to the final stages of significant white-ball competitions over the past ten years, although they have yet to win a trophy. India last took home a significant ICC trophy in 2013, when it won the Champions Trophy in England. Since then, the team has suffered three final defeats and four semifinal defeats. The 2021 T20 World Cup preliminary round was another exit for the Men in Blue.
Even as Team Indian aim to break their decade-long ICC trophy jinx, fans of R Ashwin are unhappy with Rohit Sharma's decision to choose Ravindra Jadeja over the veteran spinner.
"Worst decision ever. Best bowler by a mile," noted one fan on Twitter, while another added, "Greatest Spinner Of All Time Goat But Sorry."
Here's a look at how Twitter reacted to Jadeja's selection for the WTC Final over Ashwin:
Greatest Spinner Of All Time Goat But Sorry 🥺💔 https://t.co/fzQWi4zlm3
— 🇮🇳×ᴳᵒᵈHarsh ×AT ᭄︎︎17💙 (@ImHarshitPandey)worst decision ever. best bowler by a mile https://t.co/7jvKuOINZQ
— chaitanya (@0xVillager)Comeon tamil bros riot infront of bcci headquarters https://t.co/vJvdKKngXm
— O_o (@abhi_ram06)Time to introduce impact players in the test!🙃 https://t.co/tlTmBBLXDT
— Naiking (@naikingblue)If we want to go with four seamers, instead of Jaddu , Ash should play. I think its a bad move https://t.co/rirRwNUFzH
— Impact Player (@sabaristweet)It's ok inko option ledu..4 fast bowlers and one spiner aa bouncy pitch ki tapadhu😢 https://t.co/01EJdm38Jy pic.twitter.com/MChPYiPVv9
— Biryani🌶 (@bhaannuu)World isn't fair at all to you R Ashwin. We're really sorry. https://t.co/JpY9rrtaoH
— ThePujaraFanclub_25 (@Pranay_525)Two days before, he told how big this match in his career
Miss u Ash😭 https://t.co/cmLalW93Wk
Still think India holds the edge, but disastrous decision. https://t.co/rVBvJKQuMu
— Sankalp HK (@HkSankalp)Hope this will not backfired us.
He was vital for us in this match https://t.co/xq30mDiiXA
Politics 😡😏
He is no 1 bowler in test. Dropping him 🤷🏻♂️ https://t.co/vIAOqPafKQ
Hope this decision won't cost us 😕 https://t.co/PMRfvGaUpB
— #Thunivu 👑 (@thala_diehard)