The veteran Indian spinner, R Ashwin recalled an interesting in-game chat with former captain MS Dhoni after the famous Test against West Indies in 2011 ended in a draw in Mumbai. Ashwin impressed one and all in his debut Test series as he had a dream run with both the bat and the ball, picking up 22 wickets in the 3-match Test series he also amassed 123 runs, including a hundred in the final Test.
India was having a 2-0 lead in the series and looking to clean sweep the series against West Indies at home. Ashwin scored a hundred in the first innings of the Mumbai Test and helped the hosts to reach a total of 482 after West Indies had amassed 590 in the first innings.
ALSO READ: Aakash Chopra Reveals His Top-3 Teams If IPL 2020 Happens In UAE
The Indian team was well on the verge of chasing down the target of 243 after a strong start from Virender Sehwag and a fine middle-order contribution from Virat Kohli.
Speaking to Pakistan journalist Mazher Arshad on YouTube, Ashwin revealed why he declined a single in the penultimate ball of the final over of the match bowled by Fidel Edwards and how MS Dhoni suggested im a different approach in the tense final over.
The veteran spinner recalled, “In the final innings, we looked good to chase, but all of a sudden, we had a collapse. It was very interesting because I had a hundred in the first innings. I was 20-odd. I was left with Varun Aaron at the other end, and I think it might have been two balls, two runs to get… we had two wickets in hand. I didn’t want to risk going for a big shot, and then, the next batsman coming in and getting out – we could lose the Test match, it was not even 50-50.”
ALSO READ: Shahid Afridi Reveals How He Manipulated R Ashwin In 2014
He further elaborated, “So I blocked that ball from Fidel Edwards because it was swinging nicely and the chances of a No.11 getting out was pretty high. When I hit the ball to long-on, it really went quick and straight to the fielder, so the chance to run for two was not there. After the game, MS Dhoni came to me and said, ‘You could have taken a chance in the previous ball. Probably taken a single, and let Varun Aaron slog one off the last ball’. So yeah, that’s hindsight.”
