“We’ve played IPL for many years,” R. Ashwin says of his fascinating conversation with George Bailey regarding Australia’s decision to bowl first in the World Cup final.

During the innings break, Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin—who was a member of the Indian World Cup team—shared with Australian senior selector George Bailey the reason behind their decision to bowl first in the crucial match.

When Australia’s captain Pat Cummins chose to bowl first against India in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 final at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, he shocked everyone by winning the toss. But his team’s choice paid off well, as they reduced India to only 240 in the 50 overs they were given. They then went on to comfortably chase down the goal and win the match by six wickets to secure their sixth World Cup victory. The 37-year-old disclosed that the Australians read the conditions in the final correctly thanks to their IPL expertise.

“I asked George Bailey, who I spoke with in the middle of the innings, why you guys didn’t bat first as you always do. “We have played IPL for many years, and we toured here for bilateral series,” he retorted. Our experience in India has shown that black soil improves with sun exposure whereas red soil breaks down. “Being a batsman in red soil under lights is not easy,” Ashwin stated on his YouTube channel.

Speaking further ahead of schedule, Ashwin disclosed Bailey’s remarks and stated they had learned a lot about how the red soil pitch reacts differently from the black soil pitch from their defeat to South Africa in Lucknow.

The pitch used in the match between India and South Africa was red earth. The ball whirled as well as seamed under the lights. Red soil is not as affected by dew as black soil, where the ball turns in the afternoon but becomes patta (flat) like concrete [under lights]. That’s what we’ve found. And their interpretation of the circumstances amazed me,” he continued.

With a brilliant 2/34 in ten overs, captain Pat Cummins shone for his team. Other wicket takers included Josh Hazlewood (2/60, 10 overs), Mitchell Starc (3/55, 10 overs), Glenn Maxwell (1/35, 6 overs), and Adam Zampa (1/44, 10 overs).

About half of the balls that Pat Cummins bowled were cutters. Ashwin

Cummins’ bowling strategies against Indian hitters also delighted Ashwin, as he used his cutters to take huge wickets from Virat Kohli (54 off 63) and Shreyas Iyer (4 off 3).

“Pat Cummins was having trouble with his ODI bowling before the World Cup. However, about half of the balls he bowled in the final four or five games were cutters. He attacked the stump line and bowled like an offspinner to a four-five leg-side field, according to Ashwin.

Throughout his 10-over period, he only delivered three balls that were in the six-meter mark or higher on the pitch. And in the end, he claimed significant wickets. He bowled his ten overs without a mid-off, and the five fielders on the on side were square leg, midwicket, mid-on, deep square leg, and long leg. It was a game-breaking performance by Cummins, he continued. “I have never seen a fast bowler bowl an entire spell to such a spinner-type field in my life.”

The Australians were down to 47/3 at the end of 6.6 overs with the bat, but Travis Head’s brilliant century (137 off 120) enabled his team to chase down 241 in 43 overs and win their sixth World Cup.