• Home
  • Player Stories
  • When Ashwins Six Wicket Haul Helped India Defend Low Total In Bengaluru Against Australia

When Ashwin's Six-Wicket Haul Helped India Defend Low Total In Bengaluru Against Australia

Aashay Chopade

Ashwin celebrating with Indian players in 2017 Bengaluru Test (Source:@BluntIndianGal/X.com)Ashwin celebrating with Indian players in 2017 Bengaluru Test (Source:@BluntIndianGal/X.com)

India have been a dominant Test team at home and it is rare to see them lose a Test match in their conditions. However, New Zealand came up with an inspired performance in the first Test at the M. Chinnaswamy in Bengaluru and beat India by eight wickets to register their first Test win in India since 1988. In the final innings, they needed 107 to win and though Bumrah provided some hope with two wickets, rest of the bowlers could not get breakthroughs.

Surprisingly, Ravichandran Ashwin was given only two overs in the 28 overs India bowled and was the last of the five bowlers introduced into the attack. It was quite a surprise for cricket pundits and fans as Ashwin has been India's go-to bowler in home conditions and has delivered quite a few times before under pressure in the final innings. One such case was his bowling masterclass against Australia at the same ground in 2017.

Ashwin Shows His Class Under Pressure

Australia needed 188 to win in the final innings after getting a good first innings lead and knocking out India for 189 and 274 runs in first and second innings respectively. It was a pitch that offered help to the spinners, and Ravichandran Ashwin stepped up big time. He opened the bowling with Ishant Sharma and sent back David Warner with a beauty. He then ran through Australia's middle order and ended with six wickets in the innings as the visitors were bundled out for just 112.

It was classic Ashwin performance, where he kept Aussies on toes throughout the innings with his variations and did not crumble under pressure. Ashwin, over the years, has delivered plenty of such performances, and so he could have made a difference against the Kiwis as well, had Rohit introduced him into the attack a bit earlier.