Decided to compete against Steve Smith: R Ashwin


All-rounder R Ashwin played a massive role in India’s successful run in Australia as the visitors won the four-match Test series 2-1 to defend the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. In a chat with The New Indian Express, Ashwin talked about his batting and how he had faced competition for one slot in the side. 

“There have been questions raised over my batting since the West Indies tour. But one more thing that needs to go into consideration is I was playing all formats of the game and sometimes roles of people just playing Test cricket alone changes. I feel when I've just been playing Test cricket, it's pretty much one game here or there and I'm constantly fighting with someone else for the lone spinner slot. And if I have to be judged purely on my batting skills and batting averages then I think an innings or two alone to drop me out of a particular series, I felt wasn't quite justified,” he said. 

Ashwin picked up a total of 12 wickets in the series Down Under. Discussing the same, the off-spinner said, “Looking back you can say that but I personally think that this is just another dimension of cricket that I'm seeing myself in. I've always maintained that you cannot really say this is the best or anything, you never know something else could lie in front of you. It didn't look like I was going to start the series, in all honesty. Because Jaddu (Ravindra Jadeja) damaged his hamstring and that is why I got my opportunity in the first Test. For me, things fell in place and I also have been feeling over the last two years I have been bowling well, how it's come out of the hand.”

The Indian spinner had troubled former Aussie skipper Steve Smith, especially in the first couple of Test matches, where Smith kept getting trapped in his crease. Ashwin admitted that he was up for the challenge and wanted to 'compete' with Smith. 

“There were records that Smith had never got out to spinners in Australia. I wanted to turn that around. I am entitled to think I am probably the best in the world. I wanted to think on those lines. I thought 'who is the best in the series?' I can't compete with Virat Kohli so I decided to compete against Smith. A lot of people were talking about who will dismiss Smith. But, nobody even gave me a chance. Then, I made sure that people spoke about me at the end of the series,” he said.

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BBL 10 | Sixers vs Hurricanes: Hobart's final dash keept alive with 7-run victory

The Hobart Hurricanes kept their chances alive in the Big Bash League after winning the 52nd match of the Big Bash League against the Sydney Sixers by 8 runs. Riding on some spectacular batting between the opening duo of Matthew Wade and D’Arcy Short, the Hurricanes posted a more than competitive score of 189 on the board and in the end, it proved to be just enough as the Sixers fell short by 8 runs despite a valiant effort from the blade of Jordan Silk. Chasing a target of 189 was never going to be easy for the Sixers but with the batting line-up they had, it was always on the cards. However, the start for the Sixers was far from impressive. Josh Philippe played a sensational shot to begin the innings but 3 quick wickets put them in the backfoot. Nathan Elis and Scott Boland provided the much-needed breakthroughs and they need a partnership to harbour hopes of clawing their way back into the match. From there on it was a great partnership between Jordan Silk and Moises Henriques which helped them claw their way back into the match. Both the batters executed some good proper cricketing shots and kept the required ret under check. Yet again there was a shift in the momentum of the match when Sandeep Lamichhane bagged two back to back wickets to help the Hurricanes storm their way back into the game. While the first delivery wasn’t great but the second one was quite brilliant which breached through the defence of Daniel Christian. He was playing for the leg break but it turned out to be a googly and breached through his defence to disturb the timbers. Again the Hurricanes needed to resurrect the chase with a good partnership. Jordan Silk waged a lone battle but kept losing partners at the other end which made the run chase that much difficult. With 29 required of the final over, Riley Meredith faltered a bit with two no-balls which gave the Sixers a realistic chance. However, in the end, the target was just a bit too much as the Hurricanes registered a 7 runs victory to keep their hopes alive in the tournament. Earlier in the day, it was Syndey Sixers skipper Moises Henriques who won the toss and put the oppositions in. The opening partnership was quite staggering as Matthew Wade and D'Arcy Short literally tormented the opposition bowlers with their free-flowing strokeplay which they were lacking during the course of the tournament. Wade, in particular, looked in ominous touch and everything he touched turned to gold. He kept plundering the Sixers all around the park en route to his knock of 86 of 44 deliveries which were studded with 10 fours and 3 sixes. Short also played a stunning knock of 72 and shared a mammoth 145 runs partnership for the opening wicket with Wade. The Hurricanes were looking set to score well in excess of 200 but the Sixers bowlers made a staggering comeback in the back end of the innings and restricted them to 189. It has always been difficult chasing at the MCG but the Sixers were there in the game till the dying moments of the match. In the end, it was the Hurricanes who held their nerves and eeked out a narrow victory. They are currently occupying the 5th position with 27 points and on par with the Sydney Thunder who occupies the 4th position.