After being adjudged the Man of the series, Ravichandran Ashwin has asserted that the last four months have been quite a ride for him from a personal point of view. The all-rounder has further expressed his happiness for Rishabh Pant, saying the keeper’s turnaround makes him extremely happy.
Ravichandran Ashwin has always been a great performer at home but now he is enjoying one of the finest phases of his career, picking wickets like plucking apples in the garden while scoring runs off the bat as he has ever been. The turnaround started way back in Adelaide when India took on Australia and his pattern of dismissal for Steve Smith and the chariot hasn’t stopped ever since. Ashwin stated that the entire phase has been quite productive for him and he is enjoying every bit of it.
“The last four months have been quite a ride. I didn’t think I’d make a hundred in Chennai, I went with the flow because my form with the bat wasn’t great. I didn’t think I’d start in the XI in Australia, but after all the injuries, especially to Jadeja, there was more responsibility on me and I’m content with my performances in Australia and here. Being desperate is bad, being content is bad, but it’s important for me to be happy, and I’ve stayed on my feet, and worked out batsmen and I’m happy it has worked out well for me,” Ashwin said in the post-match presentation.
With the win, India have qualified for the World Test Championship final at Lord’s where they will take on New Zealand for the title. Ashwin said that it was a great achievement for a side that played excellent cricket throughout the phase to be where they are right now.
“The fact that we qualified for the WTC final is very important. Beating Australia in Australia has to be the pinnacle, but with the context – being in the WTC final is not a joke – this means a lot to us. WTC final is as good as WC final. The intensity was low in the first Test in Chennai, despite the high in Australia. Every time there was a challenging time in the series, someone put their hand up, so this series win was right up there,” the Chennai all-rounder said.
Rishabh Pant, on the back of his stunning performances in Australia, started once again in India and impressed one and all by scoring 270 runs at an average of 54.00. His century in Chennai was arguably his best knock in home conditions so far and Ashwin couldn’t be happier for his IPL teammate, especially after everything he has gone through in the last few years.
“If you put a board on what Rishabh has gone through in the last year, I am extremely happy to see him succeed. It’s been a little unfair being compared to legends, and the way he’s come out of it and kept in this series has been excellent. Axar is someone who came in to replace Jaddu. He deserved all the praise and he was very accurate for someone playing his first series,” Ashwin added.
