‘Leading Wicket Taker in the Tests Cycle is Not There’: Hayden Slams India for Not Picking ‘Key Factor’ Ashwin

Australian great Matthew Hayden slammed India’s decision to drop premier off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin for the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia being played at The Oval from Wednesday.

Ashwin, who is the No 1 bowler in Test cricket and India’s leading wicket-taker in the 2021-23 WTC cycle, was dropped as the Rohit Sharma-led side bolstered the pace ammunition by playing four seamers.

In the absence of Ashwin, left-armer Ravindra Jadeja is the sole spinner in the playing XI and he went wicketless as India struggled to break the 251-run partnership between Travis Head (146 batting) and Steve Smith (95 batting).

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With Head’s blistering century, his first in England, combined with Smith’s resolute show Australia took the day one honours with 327/3 on the board.

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“I feel that Ravichandran Ashwin is such a key factor, the leading wicket taker in the Tests cycle is not there. There are a few factors worth pondering on in Team India’s perspective,” Hayden was quoted as saying by ICC.

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Hayden also praised Head, saying that the current Aussie wicketkeeper-batter is ‘almost like Adam Gilchrist was in his day’.

“It was a classical Travis Head attacking style. One of the things in this Championship cycle is that Head not only scored over 1000 runs but he did at a strike rate of 80-plus,” Hayden said.

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“That’s really hard to do when you are playing a tournament of such pressure, and also you are under enormous pressure because of the atmospheric conditions. But he finds a way to get this terrific strike rate.

“He is almost like Adam Gilchrist was in his day, somehow able to put so much pressure on opposition simply because they do not know where to bowl,” Hayden added.

(With inputs from Agencies)