R Ashwin celebrating a wicket with Rohit Sharma and the rest of his Indian teammates (AP)
For Ashwin, the path to his own and India’s brilliance in the 2nd Test against Bangaldesh was paved by none other than skipper Rohit Sharma, who he attributed as the leader who led by example
When someone talks the talk and walks the walk, all you do is follow. That is exactly what Ravichandran Ashwin stated the Indian team did, as he heaped praise on his skipper Rohit Sharma for setting the tone and executing on their plan to snatch a win from Bangladesh.
With two days of play disrupted by rains, a draw was in the cards for both sides. But, with the WTC final in sight, and needing a win to make their push for the same, India dug deep and produced a moment of ‘Jas-ball’ to accelerate their scoring, whilst their bowlers led by R Ashwin did the rest to secure them a thrilling win on Day 5.
The World No. 1 Test bowler Ashwin, who won the Player of the Match award in the series opener at Chennai, picked up five wickets (2 & 3) in the second Test, of which two full days were washed out due to rain and wet outfield and only 35 overs were possible on Day 1.
“Really glad I’m able to turn up performances for the team’s victory. Winning this game was important for us. Lot of bowlers contributed really well for us today. Massive win for us in the context of the WTC,” stated Ashwin in a post-match talk.
Enroute to India’s thrilling win, the legendary offie broke a plethora of records, becoming the leading wicket-taker in the current WTC cycle, the first bowler to take 50 wickets in all three WTC editions so far and the Indian bowler with the most wickets in Asia as well.
All of his brilliance culminated in Ashwin adding another feather to his cap, in the form of a record-tying Player of the Series award, his 11th over his career which helped him draw level with Sri Lankan legend Muttiah Muralitharan.
But for Ashwin, the path to his own and India’s brilliance was paved by none other than skipper Rohit Sharma, who he attributed as the leader who led by example.
“When we bowled them out yesterday, it was little after lunch. Rohit was keen that we needed 80 overs to bowl at them. And the moment he came inside out and gave that talk where we’re going to go after it even if we get out under 230. It’s not only him saying it, he went out there and hit his first ball for six. He set the tone that way and obviously follows on from there,” Ashwin said.
“When the Captain is walking the talk, going after for a six in the first ball – then it was Jaisball.”
‘Jaisball’ it was, as India went on a historic blitz to notch up 285 runs within 35 overs in Day 4, and then it was the bowlers who bowled out the Bangladesh batters for a mere 146, paving the way for India to claim a calm and composed win out of thin air.
