The veteran Indian spinner, R Ashwin enjoyed his hard-earned 6-wicket haul on Day 2 of the 4th Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia. After having picked up his first 18 wickets of the series on turning pitches in the first 3 Tests, he had to bowl close to 50 overs for 6 wickets on a flat pitch at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
There were times in the series when teams lost their entire batting side in a session but in Ahmedabad, there were as many as 2 wicketless sessions in the first couple of days. Ashwin picked up his first wicket of the Test as early in the first session but he had to wait until the 2nd session on Day 2 to pick up his second, but after that, he wasted no time in completing a 6-wicket haul.
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R Ashwin earned praise for his brilliant bowling spell as he helped India remain in the contest on big batting days for Australia. Talking to the broadcasters, he said, “It’s pretty good, two days of hard work under the heat on a pitch is good work. It’s gratifying to take a 5-wicket haul under such conditions.”
ICYMI!
A splendid six-wicket haul ft. @ashwinravi99 🫡#TeamIndia | #INDvAUS | @mastercardindia
WATCH his excellent bowling spell here 🎥🔽https://t.co/fCYxw511PQ
— BCCI (@BCCI) March 10, 2023
He further added, “I think this haul was waiting, throughout the series I felt very good about the way I bowled, the way it came out of my hands and from the surface, but you can’t take 5 wickets every time, so it always comes around.”
The veteran spinner said he did nothing different between his first wicket, which came on Day 1, and the remaining 5 on Day 2. However, the off-spinner added that he watched a lot of footage of Travis Head to outfox the left-handed Australian opener.
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Explaining the same, R Ashwin said, “Hardly any change, even Travis Head’s dismissal, it might look soft, but I felt there was something different, he bats in a different manner, I had to watch out on how he bats, make the changes, think about his potential weaknesses and then work on it. On Day 1, there was a bit of early morning moisture, the ball was going through, but it became better after the first session.”
India went past 100 on Day 3 despite losing Rohit Sharma early as Shubman Gill hit a brisk fifty in Ahmedabad.
