Ravichandran Ashwin reveals how he struggled to play at Lord’s
The absence of Ravichandran Ashwin in the first two test matches against England caused some surprises.
The leading off-spinner was India’s most successful bowler in the World Test Championship (WTC) final, but he is not included in the XI against England as Virat Kohli has gone for a four-pronged pace attack, with Ravindra Jadeja as the bowling all-rounder.
However, the 34-year-old spinner revealed that he was in contention to play the Lord’s Test till a sudden spell of rain before the toss changed the team composition.
“The funny thing was, before the match, they were like, ‘There’s a heatwave. You please be ready mate. You might play. Upon coming to breakfast in the morning, rains started lashing out,” said Ashwin in his YouTube show, ‘Kutti Story.’
“I asked, won’t you tell about heatwave after it came? Why give me only for it to end in a disappointment,” added Ashwin.
Team India’s fielding coach R Sridhar has opened up on the much-debated heated exchange between Jasprit Bumrah and James Anderson during the 2nd Test between India and England at Lord’s.
Ashwin and Sridhar discussed what Anderson told Bumrah as the latter targeted the England cricket legend with 90mph deliveries. Anderson was irked by the barrage of bouncers he faced from Bumrah during England’s first innings and wanted to give it back to the Indian pacer.
“So after the innings, the boys were walking back to the dressing room. Then, Bumrah walked past Jimmy and just patted at him, so as to tell him that it wasn’t intentional. We all know Bumrah, he is such a nice guy. So he had gone to talk to him and end the matter, but Jimmy brushed him aside,” R Sridhar explained.
India made a remarkable comeback on the fifth day to beat England by 151 runs to go 1-0 up in the five-match series. The opening Test at Nottingham was ended in a draw as persistent rain washed away the final day.
The third Test between India and England will be played at Headingley, starting from August 25.
