Former India opener defends Rohit Sharma’s request for the World Cup final, saying “There’s No Way They Would’ve Played Ashwin”

The decision by Rohit Sharma to choose Ravindra Jadeja over Ashwin, the world’s top-ranked Test bowler, on the first day of the World Test Championship (WTC) final, became the topic of the day. The selection of Jadeja over Ashwin and the use of four seamers puzzled players like Ricky Ponting, Sourav Ganguly, Tom Moody, and Michael Vaughan. However, former India opener Aakash Chopra has backed Rohit’s choice.

Chopra emphasized that after India won the toss, given the circumstances, they were always likely to bat with four seamers, and he also stated that Jadeja has been chosen above Ashwin in almost all of the current WTC cycle’s international Test matches.

As luck would have it, Rohit’s choice to bowl first after winning the toss didn’t work out as planned. Although they were able to dismiss Usman Khawaja and David Warner early, followed by Marnus Labuschagne after lunch, Australia dominated play on Day 1 in general.

In the WTC final, Travis Head became the first batsman to score a century, and Steve Smith added an unbeaten 95 in 227 deliveries to assist Pat Cummins’ team to a final score of 327/3 at Stump’s.

Given that India had the upper hand after winning the toss, many observers believed that Ashwin might have contributed differently on the Oval’s ‘bouncy’ surface, as the Indian bowler himself admitted to followers on his YouTube channel.

After India won the toss, Chopra defended Rohit by asserting that Ashwin had ‘no way’ of being chosen over Jadeja.

“There was no way India would have started Ashwin after they made the decision to bowl first (should India win the toss). The ideal solution was to use four seamers. Additionally, Jadeja has been chosen over Ash in practically all international tests this cycle.After Stumps on Day 1, Chopra wrote, “So, how and why did you anticipate anything different this time?

On Day 1 of the WTC final 2023, Ashwin’s decision to sit out was hotly contested, and with Australia finishing the day in a dominating lead, it is uncertain if India will be able to recover by taking some early wickets on Day 2.