Ravichandran Ashwin has recalled India's iconic win at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) when India beat Pakistan in last-ball thriller. Ashwin remained calm and scored a single off the last ball in the high-voltage encounter as Pakistan were left stunned. A year later, Ashwin has revealed the conversation he had with Virat Kohli in the middle when he walked out to bat after Dinesh Karthik’s wicket.
"Virat just gave me like seven options to play off that one ball. If only I was that capable of playing all those shots I wouldn't be batting at no. 8. I just talked to myself, I couldn't say that to him. I looked at Virat and his eyes seemed like he was possessed. I said, okay he's on another planet and let me come back to earth. The moment he bowled a wide I knew I won the contest,” he said.
With two runs needed off the final ball, Mohammad Nawaz bowled a wide down the leg side. Ashwin did not throw his bat at the ball and let it go. Next ball, he chipped it over the 30-yard circle to take a single home as India registered a famous win.
"I think cricket in so many ways is going to give you a lot of messages that way. So that's where I brought my positivity from. I knew I'd won the game.
“I think about it every night when I go to sleep. To be honest what happens, every time I see the video on social media, I think about it, what if the ball had just gripped and hit my pad. It was pretty close for comfort. I just felt that the game was meant to be finished by me. That's how I felt honestly terrific innings by Virat and one of the better games I've watched and been a part of,” he further added.
While Ashwin scored the winning runs, Kohli was the star of the match as he scored an unbeaten 82 off 53 balls laced with six fours and four sixes. One of the sixes he hit of Haris Rauf has been considered one of the toughest shots in the book.
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