WTC Final: Sunil Gavaskar wants India to go with two spinners in the summit clash

Cricketer-turned-commentator Sunil Gavaskar believes India will go with two spinners in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) Final starting June 18 against New Zealand. The 71-year-old’s prediction might come out true because of the fact that the weather predicted for the match days is considerably on the hot and humid side. He also felt that it will make the pitch in Southampton even drier which will generously help spinners.

Earlier, Gavaskar also predicted that both India and New Zealand have equal chances of winning the summit clash with India being a little hungrier than the Kiwis. The former legendary batter is also a part of the commentary team. The pitch at the Ageas Bowl became the talking point with many predicting it will assist pacers rather than spinners but due to hot conditions, he believes both Ravi Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja will play.

Now with Gavaskar predicting the forecast, India might aim to go with the spin twins as they provide a bit of batting depth too, “In Southampton, it’s been boiling hot over the last few days so the pitch will definitely be dry and help spin as the match progresses, so yes both Ashwin and Jadeja will play,” Gavaskar told India Today.

Currently, the weather in Southampton is hovering between 22-25 degrees celsius for the past week and there is also a bit of rain predicted on Thursday.

Ravi Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja most likely to play WTC Final: Sunil Gavaskar

Later, Gavaskar agreed with other experts on how Jadeja and Ashwin will beef up the batting order, as the other three pacers are not capable to hanging in there with the willow for a long time.

“That (Ashwin and Jadeja together) also gives depth to the batting as well as give a fine balance to the bowling attack. For the series later (vs England) much will depend on the weather and pitch conditions.”

The Blackcaps do have form and momentum with them as they beat England 1-0 in the two-Test series. Gavaskar though doesn’t believe that New Zealand will have an advantage as he reckons few of their players are carrying niggles which might prove to be a factor when India and New Zealand clash for the inaugural WTC Final.