“Australia and Pat Cummins tricked me,” Ashwin says, explaining how Australia shocked him in the World Cup final

Veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin praised Australia’s triumph against India in the ODI World Cup final, crediting the Baggy Greens’ sixth championship, a record, to their outstanding tactical ability shown in the match at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Following two losses in the league stage, Australia won eight straight games to go to the finals, where they defeated India by six wickets, mostly due to Travis Head’s outstanding 137-run innings.

Pat Cummins’s “tactical masterclass” in the finals left Ashwin very pleased. Cummins went on to capture two crucial wickets of Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer.

“Cummins’ 4-5 fielding setup, which was akin to an off-spinner, hitting stump line—he bowled only 3 balls in the 6 meter mark towards the stump line as not to allow batters to drive—the final was a tactical masterclass, Ashwin posted on his YouTube channel.

Ashwin too thought Australia would follow tradition and bat first, but their choice took everyone by surprise. He said that the analysis of the pitch’s dark dirt, which often favours batting in the twilight, informed Australia’s decision to toss.

To be clear, Australia did not win due to serendipity or luck. In the end, they displayed exceptional tactical skills. I was enthralled with their performance in the championship round. Pat Cummins and Australia tricked me. Since it’s customary for Australians to “win the toss and bat,” I assumed that if they won the toss, they would bat first. The wicket that was utilized in the final was from Odisha, not Ahmedabad. Ashwin said, “It was the kind of wicket that would not disintegrate too much.”

India scored a below-average 240 runs after being asked to bat first because to some excellent bowling from the Australians, who had tight lines and correct line length outside the off.

The three Australian pacers went on to capture seven wickets, two each from Josh Hazlewood and Cummins, and three from Mitchell Starc. Once again giving India an exciting start, Rohit Sharma was crucially removed by Glenn Maxwell during the powerplay.

After the game, Ashwin also recalled his conversation with Australia’s Chief Selector George Bailey. “We have played IPL & Bilateral series here a lot – red soil disintegrates but not black soil & it gets better under lights – no impact on dew on red soil but black soil has good turn in afternoon & then it will be a concrete in night – this is our experience,” Ashwin said regarding his conversation with Bailey.

The all-round spin bowler went on to say that he never imagined playing only one match throughout his World Cup adventure. At his home venue of MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, Ashwin participated in India’s first league match against Australia, taking one wicket for 34 runs in his allocated 10 overs.

“I bowled with good rhythm, so I never thought my World Cup run would end after playing one match in Chennai.” I was meant to make my comeback in the Dharamsala match against New Zealand, but Hardik sustained a devastating injury. We need an all-round player to take Hardik Pandya’s position, therefore he was crucial, Ashwin remarked.