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'Aag me ghee dalte hue Ponting sahab'- Fans react as Ricky Ponting slams Indian Team for dropping R Ashwin from WTC 2023 final

Here's how fans reacted after Ricky Ponting said that the Indian team did a mistake by dropping R Ashwin from WTC 2023 final.

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Daniel S
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Ricky Ponting and R Ashwin (Source - Twitter)

Ricky Ponting and R Ashwin (Source - Twitter)

India and Australia went on head to head in the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023 final on June 7 at The Oval. But on the very first day of the final, the Australian team made a strong hold on the match. By the end of the first day's play, Australia scored 327 runs losing only 3 wickets. After bowling well in the first session, Indian bowlers looked helpless in front of Travis Head and Steve Smith. 

Meanwhile, former Australian cricketer Ricky Ponting said that India did a huge mistake by not picking Ravichandran Ashwing in the Playing XI. Pointing said that he was surprised as the Australian team have many left-handed batters and Ashwin could've troubled them.

"The reason why I was surprised that Ashwin was left out is because of the number of left-handers Australia have. There's no doubt in my mind that Ashwin would have bowled a lot better than Jadeja later on in the Test. The big decision that they had to make was between Thakur and Umesh. I was leaning towards Thakur because he would be my workhorse to give a bit of a break to the strike bowlers Shami and Siraj. You can go to Jadeja for a couple of overs just to tie the game down a bit," Ponting was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.

The bowlers will have to accept that they are gonna get driven: Ricky Ponting

The lengths that the India pacers Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, and Umesh Yadav bowled with the new ball received criticism from Ponting and Dinesh Karthik as well. The best bowler was Siraj, who dismissed Usman Khawaja for a duck. The remaining bowlers were either too short or ineffective.

"It always looks good because they are pretty bowls but the one that gets you the wickets is the one pitched in the 5-meter mark." Karthik said.

"If India had bowled really well then 60% would have been on the fuller side and 20% on a good length. I made a point earlier, the bowlers will have to accept that they are gonna get driven every now and then. What the captain can do is maybe have his mid-off and mid-on straighter and deeper which just gives the bowlers encouragement to pitch it up," Ponting said.

Here’s how fans reacted to Ponting's remark:

India vs Australia 2023 India vs Australia WTC