R Ashwin was the star for the Indian team in their victory in the second Test of the two-match series against Bangladesh recently as he was the Player of the Match for his six wickets and important knock of 42* in the chase of 145 runs in Mirpur, Dhaka.
While the Indian team did pretty well on the tour, but they lost the ODI series 1-2 thanks to some brilliant performances by Mehidy Hasan and got a tough fight in the Test series as well.
Ashwin on his YouTube channel talked about a conversation he had with Litton Das and Mehidy Hasan during the second Test match in Dhaka.
“These two (Mehidy Hasan and Litton Das) were casually swimming in the pool. I was thinking whether they would tease me or say something in Bengali. But these two are really good guys. They said, ‘Welcome Ash bhai! We thought you would be the nightwatchman today but why didn’t you come? But anyway you will come to bat tomorrow, your wicket will be crucial.’ They just started to sledge me. I replied, ‘congrats on the famous, historic Test win for Bangladesh guys!’, Ashwin said on his channel.
“They were like, ‘Come on! We know you guys bat deep. So it won’t be easy for us. We will tell you one thing, it won’t be easy to chase any target in the fourth innings in Mirpur’. I told Mehidy, ‘bro wait till the end of 35 overs. Once the condition of the ball changes, anything can happen’. I told him how the condition of the ball and the nature of the slow pitch allows the batters to play on the front and back foot after 35 overs,” Ashwin added.
Ashwin also talked about how impressed he was when he first saw Litton Das play for Bangladesh and mentioned that he believed he could one day be compared to Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson, Joe Root, and Steve Smith.
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Ashwin said: “I told Litton Das that I saw him during his Test debut. I saw his style of play and thought here is a pathbreaker to take Bangladesh cricket forward. I told him ‘I have a small disappointment. I thought you will reach the level of Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, Joe Root, and Kane Williamson’.
He replied saying ‘Yes, I agree Ash bhai. Our cricketing culture is different. We don’t get that much exposure since we play only here. When we play on a different pitch, it takes time for us to adapt’.”
“He told me when I was leaving that he has almost cracked how to become the pathbreaker, he has found the formula. I told him that I will be the first person to be happy for him if he does well,” Ashwin said.
(Indian Express inputs)
