India beat Australia in the first Test match of the Border Gavaskar Trophy at Nagpur on February 11, Saturday. Veteran spinner R Ashwin was crucial behind the innings and 132-run win as he ran through the Australian batting line-up in the second innings of the Test match. In a tough Nagpur pitch, Ashwin played a big role in the opening Test helping India out through a nervous patch on Day 1 of the Test match after opener KL Rahul got out by debutant spinner Todd Murphy.

Ashwin came out to bat late in the day and batted alongside captain Rohit Sharma and later combined with Shreyas Iyer and took India to victory as well. While speaking about the role of night watchman in the first Test, Ashwin shared that he relishes the challenge as well.

“Ahh… I wanted to get out there and bat. I was suffocated sitting inside the dressing room for hours and hours.,” he said after the game to the host broadcaster.

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“I really look forward to going out there and batting. I am getting into good positions. If and when there’s an opportunity, I am always ready. Knowing Puji, I think it’s going to happen,” R Ashwin said about the series. “And I asked Pujara whether he wanted a cover through a night watchman, and he said yes with 20 minutes left in the day,” Ashwin stated.

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“The wicket was on the slower side. So you want them to be driving. Hence I bowled on full-lengths. I was challenging the outside edge and, at the same time, the change-ups, challenging the other half of the edge as well. I have many variations but didn’t try much here,” R Ashwin concluded his post-match presentation.