R Ashwin is not only one of the most successful spinners India has produced, but he is also one of the most analyzing and thinking cricketers around today. He knows how to plan a wicket and has the confidence to convince his captain to let him do things his way.
Speaking of which, the Tamil Nadu-born spinner recalled the time he convinced Virat Kohli about his plan to dismiss David Warner during the India-Australia 2017 Test in Bengaluru. India had been bowled out for 189 with Lyon picking 8/50 and people were expecting Ashwin to do the same.
R Ashwin recalls two instances when Virat Kohli left him in awe with his brilliant captaincy
He planned dismissals for two of the best Australian batsmen in Warner and Steve Smith and when he visited Virat Kohli to discuss his ideas, he found him playing PlayStation with wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha.
“Virat was playing PlayStation with Saha and I went to his room and said, ‘Virat, I think what’s happening is Nathan Lyon got wickets in the first innings and the wicket was damp so somehow there is this sense of people coming in and saying that Lyon got wickets and hence Ash should get wickets and we’ll roll them over,” Ashwin said in a video with Cricbuzz.
“I think I want to go over the wicket to David Warner even if it sounds defensive. We need to put this game on pause mode, literally pause this game without Australia wresting the initiative. And I think both Warner and Renshaw have practiced a lot of balls for off-spinners coming from around the stumps. So I want to change this game,” Ashwin explained his plan to Kohli.
"Should have bowled the carrom ball," R Ashwin recalls the super-over where he let MS Dhoni down
Ashwin then revealed what Kohli replied and said, “He listened to my idea for a minute, started playing the game, and said, ‘Do what you want, I have complete belief in you.’ And the next day I started bowling over the stumps.”
“How David Warner got out in the first innings in Bangalore, where he got bowled – I moved over the stumps and started hitting the rough and he got bowled,” he revealed.
Ashwin picked two wickets in the first innings including Warner and then picked 6/41 in second innings and India won the match by 75 runs and drew level in the series, which they later won 2-1.
