Ravi Ashwin in telling revelation about World Cup pitch amid Pat Cummins masterstroke

Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has lifted the lid on how the masterstroke to send India in to bat first was one learnt from the Aussies playing in the Indian Premier League. India was undefeated heading into the World Cup final and were heavy favourites to lift the trophy on home soil. The Aussies, however, managed to chase down India's total and spring a massive upset but the biggest surprise of all was Pat Cummins choosing to bowl first.

Cricket wisdom suggests that in a high-pressure game a team would always rather be the one who has runs on the board and with the wicket seemingly favouring the team that was batting first at the World Cup, fans and pundits were baffled by Cummins' decision to bowl. However, the off-spinner explained the decision was ingenious and made on the back of Australia's knowledge of how Indian pitches deteriorate into the night.

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Speaking on his YouTube channel, Ashwin said he was stunned by Australia's decision to bowl first so he asked Australian selector George Bailey midway through the match why they made that call. “Australia deceived me personally with their decision at the toss,” Ashwin said.

"I was checking out if the pitch was disintegrating at the mid-innings and I met George Bailey, the chairman of selectors," he said. "And I asked: 'Why didn’t you guys bat first like you always do after winning the toss?' For that, he answered back: 'We have played IPL and bilateral series for a long time now, and in our experience, the red soil disintegrates but the black soil gets better to bat on under lights.'

"In the match against South Africa at Lucknow, it was a red soil pitch that didn't just seam, but turned too as time went by. Dew is not a big impact in red soil pitches whereas black soil pitches are good turners in the afternoon but in the night the pitch solidifies into a flat track and plays as though it’s made of concrete."

He continued: "I was flabbergasted listening to that. See, what is happening is all the experience from IPL and the bilateral series and India becoming a central hub of world cricket, they can read the pitch perfectly. India is a unique country. Different parts of the country have different soils – black soil, lesser black, a mix of black, clay and red mix, pure red, red with a mix of sand and so many more. Ahmedabad itself has more than 3 to 4 varieties of soil in the square. So what George Bailey said regarding the pitch left me spellbound."

Ricky Ponting says India's pitch manipulation backfired

The pitch was a major talking point leading up to the final with the Australian side concerned about how the pitch was prepared. Following Australia's emphatic victory, Ponting noted the Indian's pitch alterations backfired on them.

"It was very, very sub-continental conditions today," the former Test captain said. "A wicket preparation that has probably ended up backfiring on India to be totally fair."

Cummins also spoke on the pitch after the match saying it didn't turn as much as they anticipated. "It was a little slower than I thought. It didn’t particularly spin as much as we thought either but I thought everyone adjusted well and bowled some tight lines," he said.

"We were tossing it up (bowling first). We’ve been batting first for most of the tournament but we thought tonight was a good chase night because it felt it might a little bit easier and everyone was pretty keen to get out there."

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