Ponting said on television commentary that the dryness underneath the surface, which had more than just a sprinkling of live grass, would have brought him into the game, especially with Australia having four left-hand batters in the top seven – Usman Khawaja, David Warner, Travis Head and Alex Carey.
“Now that they’ve won the toss and bowled, they want to do some damage with this new ball,” Ponting told Channel Seven. “Because I think as this game goes on, it will turn and they would’ve wanted Ashwin to spin this ball away from the Australian left-handers, and he’s not there.”
“It seems like they’re convinced this pitch is very seam-friendly, because Ashwin of late in overseas matches has been pretty good,” Manjrekar said he told ESPNcricinfo. “There’s clearly a green look to it [pitch] but the soil underneath looked white to suggest there’s some dryness as well, and The Oval historically has never been a seaming pitch.”
“It [Ashwin] would’ve been the first name I would’ve looked at [on the team sheet] if I was one of the [opposition’s] left-handers,” he said. “You want a player, especially in a big event like this, who walks towards the fire. And Ashwin’s definitely one of those guys against Australia.
“He loves playing against them, gets into the contest. I know he gets under the skin of the Australian batsmen. One of the big successes India have had over Australia has been due to Ashwin’s presence. They’ll miss him out there and the pressure is on four quicks to put pressure on that middle order.”
It’s a decision India rued later, as they lost in conditions where there was plenty for the fast bowlers all through – and rain around. Ashwin didn’t feature in any of the four subsequent Tests India played later in that summer against England.
Were India scarred by that decision from 2021?
“Maybe,” Manjrekar said. “But conditions were different. It was a venue where seam bowlers had to bowl. New Zealand had five seam options. I believe you have to look at the history of a certain venue and a pitch rather than how a pitch looks on day one.
“Ashwin, for many reasons, would’ve been a good selection [here], plus he adds a bit of batting depth as well. The Ashwin we saw against New Zealand in that WTC final and the Ashwin of today, there’s a marked change in the way he bowls. This Ashwin you’d think would’ve done well in these conditions. Having said that, Jadeja against the left-handers isn’t too bad, maybe that is the reason why they felt we can still it do with one spinner.”