Two balls required off the last ball, a high-pressure match against Pakistan, the first match of the T20 World Cup, and the finisher gone on the previous ball, Ashwin had more pressure on his shoulder when he got out than any other batsman. . However, the veteran’s handling of his first delivery was an example of how to stay calm under pressure. Ashwin knew Mohammad Nawaz was going to go down leg again, so he moved inside the line to allow the ball to cross the stumps as the umpire called it a wide ball. Ashwin won the next ball for India. However, when he recalled the delivery from Nawaz, he made an epic retirement announcement.
Nawaz faced Dinesh Karthik in the previous ball. The ball hit the ball and rolled back and Muhammad Rizwan was quick enough to run out and the batsman failed to complete the shot. Nawaz stuck to his plan against Ashwin but the veteran cricketer knew this and was smart enough to switch lines. The umpire called it wide and the equation was reduced to 1 to 1 for India.
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Speaking to BCCI.tv, Ashwin said that if that ball had gone in, he would have gone straight to the dressing room, picked up his phone and tweeted his retirement.
“Someone asked me if Nawaz’s ball had turned and hit the pads, what would you have done? It was during my cricket career. It’s been a great journey,” he laughed.
Virat Kohli also praised Ashwin’s performance in this delivery after India won the match.
“When you need 15 or 16 runs and you get two runs in two balls, people might relax a bit and think it’s over. Then Dinesh Karthik came out. Then I told Ash. Hit the ball over the covers. But Ash, usne dimaag ke upar extra dimaag lagaya. That was a brave thing he did. Walked inside the line and bowled it wide. The next thing was if he could get the ball. through the gaps we would have won the match for sure,” he told Star Sports after the four-wicket victory.