WTC Final: Monty Paneser backs Ashwin to put New Zealand in "trouble"

Opinions and takes on Ravichandran Ashwin are doing the rounds in recent days, and this time it’s former England spinner Monty Panesar who’s got into the act. Former batsman turned expert Sanjay Manjrekar stated that Ashwin hasn’t been as successful overseas which puts him off the ‘all time great’ category for now. Manjrekar did have his reasons, but some do feel that Ravi Ashwin is a match winner away from home as well.

‘All- time great’ is the highest praise & acknowledgement given to a cricketer. Cricketers like Don Bradman, Sobers, Gavaskar, Tendulkar, Virat etc are all time greats in my book. With due respect, Ashwin not quite there as an all-time great yet. ?#AllTimeGreatExplained?

— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) June 6, 2021

Monty Panesar firmly believes that Ashwin will play a pivotal role in the World Test Championship Final against New Zealand.

The reason why Monty backs Ravi Ashwin here is due to the fact that New Zealand rely on quite a few left handed batsmen to get the runs. Meanwhile, Ashwin has been the most successful bowler against the left handers in the last 143 years, as 200 of his 409 total Test wickets are those of left-handed batsmen.

Monty Panesar backs Ravi Ashwin for WTC Final

“I think New Zealand is quite a good team and Conway had a great game against England. They have got few left-handers in there so I am sure Ashwin will probably be the first-choice spinner,” Panesar was quoted saying.

“If Ashwin can get the left-handers out cheaply, I think New Zealand would be in trouble, if Ashwin can’t then it would put more and more pressure on seamers. If he performs as he did in his country, India will be in a stronger position,” he added.

India to opt for two spinners?

Although plenty of cricketing experts suggest that it’ the faster bowlers who gain success on English wickets, Monty feels that he weather at this point of time could provide assistance to the spinners too.

“We have a heatwave here and the weather is fantastic, I think the wicket will turn and India might go with two spinners. Also, Virat Kohli wants to get Ravindra Jadeja in the team,” he said.

ICC WTC, a great advertisement of Test Cricket says Panesar

The 39-year-old talked about the importance of the WTC, and how it endorses excitement and anticipation to that of an Indo-Pak series or to that of the Ashes.

“I would like to see the match going to the fifth day, I think that would be a good advertisement for Test cricket and World Test Championship. I think it (best of three finals) can be the option as two best teams are playing against each other, it kind of has a similar effect as that of Test series between India and Pakistan or England and Australia,” said Panesar.

WTC Final Date and Time

The IND vs NZ World Test Championship Final between will be contested at the Ageas Bowl Stadium, Southampton. The date for the final is from June 18-22, with an extra sixth day as an option too. The match begins at 3:00 PM (IST), and can be watched Live on the Star Sports Network,

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