Ravichandran Ashwin may have regularly seen the back of some of the finest Test batsmen during his nearly decade-long career, but one certain right-hander from Australia gave him a really hard time.
Ashwin faced up against former Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting on that 2011-12 tour down under and failed to dismiss him even once across 256 deliveries, giving away 148 runs.
Recalling that experience during an interview with Pakistan journalist Mazher Arshad over youtube, however, the premier India off-spinner said the sample size is too short to come up with a conclusion.
"I think the sample size is very less. I think I might have played very little against Ricky Ponting. In the Adelaide Test, he was dropped twice, I remember it very clearly. In the Sydney Test, he made some runs, I bowled very less against him in Melbourne. But in Adelaide and Sydney, I bowled longer to him," said Ashwin.
"Ricky Ponting is a great batsman, I was a newcomer at the time. I really take pride when someone plays me really well, I try to counter them as period goes on. That’s international cricket. You adapt. When you do well, you learn, when you don’t do well, you learn harder."
"For me, I always thought Ricky Ponting was a fine, fine batsman. I also thought he wanted to go out on a high, he didn’t have any pressure at that point of time when we went to Australia. I was still new into my art, I was still learning my game,” he added.
"I don’t see anyone as someone who is the best batsman in the world, or very difficult to bowl at. Yes, you will have good days and bad days. If someone plays you well, you have to learn and get better."
On the other hand, when Ashwin bowled to Sri Lanka legend Kumar Sangakkara, he dominated him in what was the off-spinner's first Test tour of the Island nation in 2015, a complete contrast from the Australian trip where he bowled to Ponting.
"When it came to Sanga, I think I was really lucky because I was in one of the best forms of my life," said Ashwin. "Ball was coming out like a dream, I didn't have to think about anything. My action and rhythm was like poetry in motion. He got some really good balls. I was bowling like a dream to left-handers. When I saw a left-hander, I didn't see who he was."
"I liked bowling in Sri Lanka, the pitches don't spin big but they have enough bounce and speed to carry edges to slip."
"They say right time at the right place. Sangakkara was about to finish his career and I was about to take off my career, I found myself in the right time of my career against Sanga," he concluded.
