R Ashwin came out to bat vs Pakistan after Dinesh Karthik’s dismissal© AFP
All eyes were on India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin when he walked out to bat against Pakistan in the thrilling World Cup match on Sunday. India needed two off as many balls when Dinesh Karthik was stumped on the ball of Mohammad Nawaz. Ashwin, who came in next, had the task to score two runs off the remaining one delivery. Cool as a cucumber, Ashwin left Nawaz’s first delivery down the leg side to see it go for a wide and then hit a lofted shot over mid-off to score the winning run.
After the match, Ashwin opened up on what was going on in his mind during the entire incident. Meanwhile, he also revealed that he cursed Karthik while going in to bat before regaining his confidence to finish the match.
“The moment I saw the ball going down the leg side, I decided not to have any business playing it and decided to leave it alone and got one run for the wide. As soon as I got that run, I was so relaxed. As I walked in to bat, I cursed Dinesh Karthik for a second and then later thought, ‘No no, we still have time, let us do what we were here for’. It seemed like I was walking for ages to get to the pitch,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
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Chasing 160-run target against Pakistan in their campaign opener at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday, India were reduced to 31 for 4 in 6.1 overs but a 113-run stand between Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya brought the side back in the game.
While Hardik fell for a 37-ball 40, Kohli scored 82 not out off 53 balls to help India win the game by 4 wickets. The top-order batter won the Player of the Match award.
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