On November 19, R Ashwin was quite positive that India would win the World Cup. However, India finished as runners-up while Australia won their sixth World Cup with to skipper Pat Cummins’ “tactical brilliance and tactical execution”. This was Ashwin’s analysis of the final, which he discussed this week on his YouTube channel in great detail.
“Pat Cummins was having trouble before the World Cup as an ODI bowler. However, over half of the balls he bowled in the final four or five games were cutters, according to Ashwin.
“I don’t know how many people saw it on TV, but Cummins bowled the stump line in the final to a four-five leg-side field, bowling it like an offspinner. However, during his entire ten-over period, he only bowled three balls that were in the six-meter mark or higher on the pitch. He took important wickets throughout the match. He bowled his ten overs without a mid-off, and the five fielders on the on side were square leg, midwicket, mid-on, deep square leg, and long leg.”
Cummins concluded with statistics of 2 for 34 and did not give a boundary in a field that was primarily leg-side and lacked a mid-off. Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer took the two wickets; Kohli played one on while attempting to drive a back-of-a-length delivery to deep third, while Iyer was dismissed by a low bounce on a length ball. The strikes had a significant impact in limiting India to 240 people in Ahmedabad.
“We should celebrate Cummins’ execution,” Ashwin declared. Planning to bowl to a leg-side field is simple. In a Test match, it is simpler to bowl that way because even if you bowl a few balls down leg, the umpires won’t call a wide.
“However, it’s brilliant to carry out the plans with that field, not bowl a wide down leg in an ODI, and not let batters drive the ball.” With such a field, I have witnessed bowlers go for at least one or two fours.
“In a one-day game, it was the first time I had ever seen a fast bowler bowl to an offspinner’s field without a mid-off. tactical intelligence, tactical performance. We were present there.”
Why did Australia take on India at bat?
The sluggish pitch for the final was a major reason why Cummins and other Australian fast bowlers used the cutters. Australia had worried on the day of the final that the strip might favour the Indian spinners since it had already hosted the India-Pakistan match on October 14. To everyone’s astonishment, Cummins chose to field after calling at toss.
At the halfway point, Ashwin would come to grasp the precise rationale for Cummins’ choice after running into Australia’s head selector, George Bailey.
“At the mid-innings break, I was observing the pitch when Bailey appeared. In the finals, Australia usually bats first, so I questioned him why they decided to bowl first,” Ashwin remarked. “We have played in the IPL for many years, and we came here for bilateral series,” stated Bailey. Our experience in India has shown that black soil improves with sun exposure whereas red soil breaks down. Batting in red dirt under lights is also difficult.
“The pitch used in the match between India and South Africa was red earth. The ball whirled as well as seamed under the lights. In contrast to black soil, where the ball turns in the afternoon but becomes patta (flat) like concrete [under lights], red soil is not affected greatly by dew. That’s what we’ve found.”
“IPL and bilateral series need to use the same Kookaburra balls as ICC events.”
Concerns were also voiced by Ashwin on the inferiority of the white Kookaburra balls used in bilateral series and the IPL in comparison to those used in ICC competitions. In contrast to those used in ICC events, he claimed that the ones used in bilaterals and the IPL absorbed moisture and lost shape more easily.
“In ICC events, I’ve noticed that the ball falls on the seam and continues, regardless of whether the spinner twists it or a fast bowler bowls. In contrast, the ball [loses shape and] takes on the appearance of a round vessel, a lemon, or even an egg during bilateral series or IPL.
“The ball will occasionally absorb a lot of moisture from a storehouse, change its shape and quality, and absorb water. Selections are made on the basis of performances in the IPL and bilateral series, therefore it will matter if the ball is provided in the same quality [as in ICC competitions]. For bowlers and hitters, it will be the ideal test.”
