R Ashwin on how Pat Cummins’ brilliance and Australia’s understanding of Ahmedabad conditions left him in awe | Cricket-world-cup News

When Pat Cummins won the toss and opted to bowl first against India in the final of the 2023 ODI World Cup at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday, there was some surprise in the cricketing fraternity. While there was expectation of dew to play its part in the second innings it still was a brave call against the host in front of thousands of fans who were all rooting for Rohit Sharma’s men. And Australia have often relied on the mantra of ‘bat first and put runs on the board in a big game.’
However, the decision paid off big time for the Aussies as they won their sixth World Cup beating India six wickets. Indian off-spinner Ashwin Ravichandran on his YouTube video revealed his conversation with the Australian chief selector George Bailey during the innings break. “I chatted with George Bailey during the mid-innings and asked him why didn’t you guys bat first like you always do.”
“He replied, ‘we have played IPL for many years, toured here for bilateral series. As per our experience in India, red soil disintegrates but black soil becomes better to bat under lights. It is tough [to bat] in red soil under lights, too. In Lucknow against South Africa, the pitch was a red soil one. Under lights, the ball not just seamed but also spun. Even dew does not have much impact on red soil whereas on black soil, the ball turns in the afternoon but becomes patta (flat) like concrete [under lights]. That is our experience’. And I was left in awe of their reading of the conditions.”
Ashwin went on to speak about how pitches in India often offer a variety of conditions and the fact that IPL has made these familiar to touring teams as well. He also joked that he was completely deceived the Aussies’ decision to bowl first on the pitch.

Australian bowlers could extract far more than the Indian bowlers in the afternoon and as the evening went on the help for the Indian bowlers started to get minimal. In the first innings, the ball did grip for the spinners and the pace trio of Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazelwood all could get the ball to reverse swing.
The Australian skipper especially was lethal with his cross-seam deliveries and his trademark hard-length deliveries around the fourth stump channel. Ashwin earmarked the Cummins’ brilliance as one of the cornerstones of Australia’s wins.
“Pat Cummins was struggling as an ODI bowler heading into the World Cup. But in the last four or five games leading into the final, nearly 50% of the balls he bowled were cutters,” the Indian spinner who played the solitary match in Chennai, said.
“Cummins bowled to a four-five leg-side field like an offspinner, attacking the stump line. He bowled only three balls in the six-meter mark or further up on the pitch in his entire 10-over spell. And he picked up crucial wickets in the final. The five fielders on the on side were square leg, midwicket, mid-on, deep square leg and long leg, and he bowled his ten overs without a mid-off. I have never seen a fast bowler bowl an entire spell to such a spinner-type field in my life, it was a game-breaking spell Cummins” Ashwin added.