If one were to talk about one of the biggest points of Ravichandran Ashwin’s career, it was certainly during the T20 World Cup 2022, when Ashwin batted against Pakistan. That iconic leave off Mohammad Nawaz by Ashwin – when India needed two runs off one ball – that saw it go for a wide, will go down as one of Indian cricket’s top historical memories in the recent past. On the day of the great game with India against Pakistan, Ashwin spoke about how not much of that moment sunk in for him, until he saw the way head coach Rahul Dravid reacted.
“I hadn’t realised what I had done. I came back into the dressing room, and I haven’t seen Rahul Dravid exult like that – I mean, the second time I saw him exult was after the T20 World Cup, which we won recently. Until this moment, I hadn’t seen him exult. He came to me and said, That’s why we had you in the squad! That’s the way you deal with this,” Ashwin said on the Sky Sports Cricket podcast alongside former England captains Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain.
Ashwin also narrated Virat Kohli’s immediate reaction to Ashwin’s leave.
“I didn’t quite honestly realise the magnitude of what that moment meant. I just saw the ball and just let it go.” Then it hit Rizwan and came back, because I think Virat was almost celebrating. He just waved his hand to say who the hell leaves a ball like that, said Ashwin.
Well, Kohli’s performance would have ensured that the efforts go in vain as he single-handedly put India into a match-winning position with a breathtaking score of 82 runs off 53 deliveries in the second innings where India were chasing 160 runs. Just as it seemed that Kohli’s efforts would go in vain, Ashwin’s moment of genius and quick-thinking saw India through the contest.
This incident is the hallmark of Ashwin’s capability to think on his feet in real pressure situations-a skill that has, without a doubt, served Team India throughout his career.
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