Ravichandran Ashwin came to India’s rescue once more, scoring 42 not out under pressure against Bangladesh on Sunday (December 25), helping the KL Rahul-led Indian team beat Shakib Al Hasan’s side by three wickets in the second Test. The star spinner came out to bat at No. 9 and added an unbeaten 71 runs from 105 balls with Shreyas Iyer (29 not out), to help the visitors bounce back from 74 for 7 and reach the target of 145 runs in 47 overs for the loss of seven wickets.
Ashwin top-scored for India in the second innings. He faced a total of 62 balls and hammered four boundaries and one six during his stay at the crease. He scored the six on the first ball of the 47th over, which was bowled by Mehidy Hasan Miraz, and then finished the game with two back-to-back fours. He kept his cool and scored a total of 16 runs in that over to help India cross the finish line.
After scoring the winning boundary on the final ball of the 47th over, Ashwin celebrated wildly, and the video of his celebration went viral on the internet. In the video, Team India’s head coach Rahul Dravid and star batter Virat Kohli can also be seen applauding his efforts from the dressing room.
India started the fourth day’s play at 45 for 4 and needed another 100 runs to win the Test match. But the game got spiced up when Shakib Al Hasan removed nightwatchman Jaydev Unadkat (13), first, and then Mehidy Hasan (5/63) got rid of Rishabh Pant (9) and Axar Patel (34) in quick succession.
At the time of Axar’s departure, India was struggling at 74 for 7, but from there on, Iyer and Ashwin joined hands and helped India reach the target. For his match-winning innings, Ashwin won the Player of the Match award, whereas Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara bagged the Player of the Series award.
