India off-spinner R Ashwin has opened up on how he was sledged by Australia’s Matthew Wade during his amazing rearguard action with Hanuma Vihari in the third Test against Australia in Sydney during the 2020-21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Ashwin and Vihari batted out of their skins and both suffered a lot of hits on the body, with Vihari even batting with a torn hamstring, while Ashwin was bombarded with short balls and now the Tamil Nadu all-rounder revealed that the Australians were making fun of his pain.
Fielding at the forward short leg, Matthew Wade was constantly in Ashwin's ears while he and Vihari batted to take India towards a draw.
"When I got hit, Matthew Wade… he started making fun. He's like 'Aah' and all that in front of my face. And I get like, 'He's making a mickey out of this. And I must show who I am. I have not gone into such a zone in my life before or after. I go into a zone of saying it's either you or me," Ashwin said on the documentary 'Bandon Mein Tha Dum' streaming on VOOT.
"There was this ball where I tried to go forward and my spikes got stuck. And immediately, Matthew Wade started laughing. 'Hahaha, that's so agri and all that stuff'. I put a chest guard on, which was Vihari's, which they started making fun of. 'This is very agricultural' and all that. They more they started going, the more resolve we started showing,” he added.
However, the more famous incident from that innings was Ashwin sledging then Australia captain Tim Paine, who was chirping from behind the stumps. After being irritated a few too many times by Paine, Ashwin had a few exchanges of words with him.
“I can’t wait to get you to the Gabba Ash I’ll tell you what, woo hoo,” Paine said from behind the stumps.
Ashwin had hit back saying: “Just like we want to get you to India that will be your last series.”
Paine then said: “At least my teammates like me, dickhead. I’ve got a lot more Indian friends than you do. Even your teammates think you’re a goose. Don’t they? Every one of them.”
Ashwin also spoke about Tim Paine’s sledging and said that he wanted to return the favor by saying plenty of things himself, but the India spinner managed to retrain himself and focus on the job at hand.
"I genuinely felt that with the way he plays the front foot defense, if he was to come to India, it would have been 8 wickets for me in 4 Tests. That's how I saw it. And I wanted to say it like that but I didn't, in case I would miss getting him out once, that it would go against me, so I said, 'I can't wait for you to get to India, because that will be your last series for sure'," added Ashwin.
