Australia captain Steve Smith plays a shot during the first day of the 4th Cricket Test match between India and Australia in Ahmedabad, India, Thursday, March 9, 2023. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)
The Indian spinner, who was instrumental in the visitors’ victory with his 25 wickets in four matches, expressed his thoughts on the series and mentioned the impact of stand-in captain Steve Smith.
India sealed their progress to the final of the World Test Championship with a 2-1 win over the touring Australia in the recently-concluded domestic Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
India won the first two games in Nagpur and Delhi, before Australia staged a comeback with their win in Indore. The final Test in Ahmedabad ended in a draw.
Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who was instrumental in the visitors’ victory with his 25 wickets in four matches, expressed his views on the series and cited the impact of stand-in captain Steve Smith, who led the Australian team after Pat Cummins. had led. to return home midway through the tour citing personal reasons.
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Ashwin said, “Steven Smith led the Australian team brilliantly in such conditions.”
“He’s very creative and gets the game”, heaped praise on the 36-year-old Australian batsman.
“We are aware of the fact that he is a great batsman, but to be a great student of the game, you need to know all the nuances,” Ashwin said.
“He gets the game. He knows what to do when and he has mastered the game,” the Chennai cricketer expressed his admiration for the Australian.
“He led them really well in the last two Tests, whether it was field placement or bowling changes, he was spot on. He never let us dominate in the Indore Test.”
The tricky spinner from Tamil Nadu scalped 3 wickets in the first innings of the series-opening game in Nagpur, before claiming a 5-wicket haul in the second innings to help India post a mammoth 132 runs over the visitors by an innings.
The home team extended India’s winning streak in the second game with a 6-wicket win in the Delhi Test. Ashwin once again found himself in trouble as he managed to dismiss 3-3 Australian batsmen in the first and second innings.
The third game in Indore proved out of reach for India as the Aussies halved their series lead with a memorable win under Nathan Lyon. Nevertheless, Ashwin managed to send three Australian batsmen to the hut in the first innings and was responsible for another wicket in the second innings.
Ashwin took his second 5-for by taking 6 more wickets in the first innings of the final Test in Ahmedabad in BGT 2023 and added one more to his tally in the second innings.
India and Australia will square off against each other in the final of the WTC starting on 7th June 2023.
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