'Who says off-spinner can't play on a green pitch?' - Sourav Ganguly questions India's decision to bench R Ashwin in WTC final

Former BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has questioned India's decision to bench spinner Ravichandran Ashwin in the World Test Championship (WTC) final at The Oval in London. He also lauded Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon for dismissing Ravindra Jadeja on Day 2 of the summit clash.

Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill got India off to a positive start on Day 2, but India lost their way quickly thereafter as they lost first five wickets in the second session. India were 151/5 at the end of the day, 318 runs behind Australia. Each one of Australia's five bowlers claimed a wicket before Ajinkya Rahane and Ravindra Jadeja's fifth-wicket stand of 71 runs gave India plenty of optimism.

However, Jadeja fell to Lyon for 48 off 51 while Rahane remained unbeaten at stumps on 29 off 71 with KS Bharat at the other end. Meanwhile, as Lyon removed Jadeja, Ganguly questioned India's choice of leaving out Ashwin, the No. 1 bowler in the ICC Test rankings.

I would find it very hard to keep Ashwin's out of playing XI: Sourav Ganguly

"Who says off-spinner can't play on a green pitch? Left-handed batter [Ravindra Jadeja] and Nathan Lyon. He has more than 400 wickets in Test cricket. At this moment, he dismissed India's best batter. [It had both] turn and bounce," Ganguly told Star Sports.

The 50-year-old admitted that India have had success with four pacers, but Ganguly said he would find it difficult to keep spinner like Ashwin out of the playing XI.

"See it's an afterthought. And I don't believe in afterthoughts. As a captain, you take a decision before the toss and India had decided that they would go in with four fast bowlers. Having said that, in the last couple of years they have had success in the last couple of years with four pacers. They've won Test matches but if you ask me... if I was captaining - and every captain is different; Rohit and I think differently - I would find it very hard to keep a spinner of Ashwin's quality out of the XI," he added.

Meanwhile, Lyon has grabbed 483 wickets in 121 Tests, with 117 in 27 outings against India. On the other hand, Ashwin has 474 Test wickets 92 matches, with 62 wickets in 22 Tests against Australia.