India off-spinner R Ashwin had a memorable outing in the recently concluded second Test against England at his home ground in Chennai. He finished the match with a century and eight wickets and was named the Player of the Match as well.
Ashwin had picked 6/61 in the first Test as well, but Joe Root’s 218 and 40 and England spinners Dom Bess and Jack Leach helped the visitors register a 227-run win, also in Chennai.
However, India came back strong thanks to Rohit Sharma’s 161 and half-centuries from Rishabh Pant and Ajinkya Rahane in the first innings, making 329. Ashwin then came to the party, picking 5/43 as England was routed for 134 in their 1st innings.
India needed to put England under pressure despite having a 195-run lead, and Virat Kohli (62) needed a partner to stay with him on a challenging surface to bat on. Enter Ravichandran Ashwin, who made a brilliant 106 with 14 fours and 1 six.
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Ashwin even came good with the ball in the second innings, picking 3 wickets and helping debutant Akshar Patel (5/60) rout England for 164 and helped India win the second Test by 317 runs and equaling the Test series 1-1.
Ashwin thanked the Chennai crowd for their support on Twitter.
"I can't express how I feel right now, but I am so very grateful to each and everyone who has wished me over the last few days. I would also like to thank the #KnowledgableChennaiCrowd for turning up in numbers and making me feel like a hero," Ashwin tweeted.
Ashwin on Tuesday also revealed that he had toiled hard during the coronavirus enforced lockdown last year to improve his batting and footwork.
"During the COVID lockdown I practiced a lot with throwing balls on the ball and then batting to improve my drive and footwork and it became good and everything just added up when I hit the century. The reactions were natural," Ashwin said during the post-match presentation after India's win.
Describing the feeling of performing in front of his home crowd Ashwin said, "It was my dream to play a Test match in Chepauk and I never thought I would play a Test here and fans will cheer for me. I played my first Test here in 2013 when Dhoni (Mahendra Singh Dhoni) hit a 200 and I took 12 wickets."
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"That was a different feeling altogether but this time it was something else. Taking wickets is good but my century is something else as it came after five years. Many people were frustrated as they thought we have batting abilities but were not able to live up to the expectations. The problem is everyone has an opinion nowadays, they don't think how a batsman is thinking what kind of help does he require," Ashwin added.
India remains in contention to make the final of the ICC World Test Championship. The victory in Chennai on Tuesday has lifted India to the second position with 69.7 percentage points on the points table but they cannot afford to lose another match as they need to win 2-1 or 3-1 to qualify for the final of the maiden edition of the championship.
(ANI inputs)
