Couldn’t turn left, right: R Ashwin talks about his injury, batting on final day in Sydney Test

The Indian team wrote history during the Tour Downunder in 2020-21 when they clinched a 2-1 win in the four-match series. The winning triumph wasn’t just special because India had defeated Australia in Australia for the second time on the trot but it was more about overcoming the off field issues. 

The players were injured, racially abused and Team India was without their regular captain Virat Kohli after the first Test. Kohli had returned home for the birth of his first child. 

But the Indian side, comprising youngsters, didn't give up. They fought back and they fought back really hard despite suffering a thumping defeat in the opening clash. 

One of the injured players from the Indian camp, R Ashwin has now narrated the story of the Sydney Test when he and Hanuma Vihari saved the game for India. 

“They will give you a bowling place just besides the pitch where there is a pitch which is hard. But in Sydney, they give you the outer surface which is full of sand. So, we had bowled for four days, the foot holes were big and I went and just warmed up bowled the first ball. My toe landed and it stuck in the hole and my upper body twisted. I’m like ouch and it hurt. My one of the hips went down and the other one went up. I was wincing in lower back pain and went to the physio and told him that it was paining. He gave me a really powerful pain killer and I kept bowling. It was painful and it took me two overs to go over the pain barrier. Once I bowled the two overs, I kept going for 14 overs. I told Ajinkya that I can’t stop because if I had, I couldn’t bowl again. Later, they declared and I went in but little did I know that I’m going to have the worst night of my life,” Ashwin revealed while talking to Boria Majumdar. 

“When I went to lie down after the dinner, my back didn’t go down. I literally put a towel underneath my back, held my hip up and then went to sleep."

"Next morning, when I woke up, my mind was telling me to get up but I couldn’t. I couldn’t turn left, right or couldn’t get up. I was shouting in pain and then my wife came, my children were holding my hands and she just pulled me up but I couldn’t get up. I called the other physio. He came and gave me a pain killer, lifted me and put me in the hot shower. Once I put the hot water on, my back started warming up and I don’t even know how I went to the game. My wife looked at me and asked, “you are going to play the game to which I replied, “have to do it”,” Ashwin added.

The right-hander scored an unbeaten 39 off 128 while Vihari struck 23* off 161 on the final day to save the game for India.