T20 World Cup, Super 12: Why Ravichandran Ashwin was picked over Yuzvendra Chahal in India vs Pakistan

India are locking horns with Pakistan in the marquee clash of the T20 World Cup, 2022. Rohit Sharma won the toss and decided to field first. After winning the toss, the skipper explained his decision.

“Looks like a good pitch, a bit of grass, and it’s a little overcast, so the ball might swing around a little bit, so we’ll try and use that to our advantage,” he said.

He further added, “Very much sorted with our preparation now. It’s time to come out and enjoy ourselves.”

When asked about the team composition, Rohit Sharma replied, “seven batters, an allrounder, three seamers, two spinners.” 

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India Playing XI:

Rohit Sharma(c), Dinesh Karthik(w), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh

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In a surprise move, the Indian team management chose experienced all rounder Ravichandran Ashwin over Yuzvendra Chahal. This may be because of Ashwin’s batting prowess. It was Ashwin and Hanuma Vihari’s stand in the 3rd Test of the 2021-22 Border Gavaskar Trophy that helped India win the game and series. Thus, not only Ashwin is a good batter, but also an experienced batter who is familiarised with the Australian conditions. 

Also Pakistani batters like Babar Azam and Mohammed Rizwan play well against off spin, and with Mohammad Nawaz and Shaan Masood playing, there are two additional left handed batters in the batting lineup. Ashwin will be more effective against them as his numbers show. Ashwin also gives the luxury of a spinner in the powerplay, whereas the same cannot be said for Yuzvendra Chahal, who is most effective in middle overs.

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Pakistan skipper Babar Azam, after losing the toss, said, “toss is not in our hands, but we would have liked to bowl first as well. We’ll try to post around 160-170. We have prepared well, and we are ready for this big game. We had a T20 series back home (against England), we played a tri-series in New Zealand, so we are prepared. We have three fast bowlers and two spinners.”