'Ravi Bhai wanted a draw'- R Ashwin spills beans on India’s historic win at The Gabba

India's win in the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2020-21 is considered a golden moment in Test history. A young and injured Indian Test side fought all the odds to defeat Australia for the second consecutive time in their own backyard. 

The visitors didn't get off to an ideal start in the Border Gavaskar Trophy as they lost their first Test in Adelaide after getting bundled out at just 36 runs. The same was followed by skipper Virat Kohli flying back to India on paternity leave for the birth of his first child.

In the absence of Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane donned the skippers' hat, and the team made a comeback to win the second Test in Melbourne. The third Test in Sydney ended in a draw, while the final match at the Gabba in Brisbane saw India creating history.

India breached the Gabba fortress by three wickets to win the four-match series by 2-1. However, the road to victory wasn't easy for the visitors considering a lot of players, including Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Ravindra Jadeja, Umesh Yadav, Ravi Ashwin, and Hanuma Vihari, succumbed to injury.

The final Test at Gabba had a completely inexperienced bowling unit in the form of Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur, Washington Sundar, and T Natarajan. The odds of India taking the trophy home looked extremely bleak, but Rishabh Pant played one of the finest innings of his entire cricket career. 

Not just Pant, Shubman Gill, Washington Sundar, and Shardul Thakur also impressed the cricket fraternity with their conduct on the field. India's ace spinner Ravi Ashwin, who was present in the dugout at Gabba, gave some insights from the match.

Ashwin revealed that all of India's hopes were pinned on Pant, but a victory looked far-fetched to him. He also mentioned that the head coach Ravi Shastri was hoping for a draw to avoid a loss in the series.

Further, the spinner credited Sundar's cameo of 29-ball 22 to give the team momentum. Rishabh Pant won the man of the match award for his knock of unbeaten 89 runs as he took India home by three wickets. 

"It is hard to understand his (Rishabh Pant) mind. He can do anything. 

He is one of those players who is incredibly blessed. He has so much ability that sometimes he thinks that he can hit every ball for a six. It is hard to keep him calm, Pujara tried to do that during the Sydney Test, but he missed out on a century there," Ashwin said while speaking to Sports Yaari.

"But in this game, what had happened was that Ravi bhai wanted a draw because there was a chance to draw the game, but we were going for the win. Everyone had their own plan. I asked Ajinkya on the outside on what the plan is, are we going for a win? He told me that 'Pant is playing and we will see what happens. 

The moment Washi (Washington Sundar) went in and scored 20 quickly, our plan changed then. His 20-30 run contribution was significant," Ashwin further added.