After rescuing India from what would have been an embarrassing defeat in Dhaka, R Ashwin in conversation with player of the series Cheteshwar Pujara talks about his batting and explained why he rates his “defence” strongly.
Ashwin lifted India from the depths of 74 for 7 and dragged them to the target of 145 before lunch on the fourth morning of the second Test against Bangladesh in Dhaka for a 2-0 series win.
In a video posted by BCCI, on their official website, the duo could be seen discussing their game plan, victory and more.
From emerging victorious after a tricky run chase to sharing the excitement of red-ball cricket 🙌🏻
Match-winners @ashwinravi99 & @cheteshwar1 sum up #TeamIndia’s series win against Bangladesh 👌🏻👌🏻 – By @RajalArora
Full Interview 🔽 #BANvIND https://t.co/5E8DzZ0bVP pic.twitter.com/4XSe2HjInB
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 25, 2022
Pujara questions the spinner about his positive intent during the game. Quizzing Ashwin about the changes in his game, he asks if it’s because of T20 and IPL preparation or the amount of white ball cricket he has been playing lately is the reason.
To this, the 36-year-old spinner says, “Quite possibly….I still would like to think I rate my defence pretty strongly, even if it can look a little iffy at times I think test matches are played and built around defence and as a batter…I’m talking to a man who builds his game around defence”
Pujara nods his head, smiles and says, “I completely agree”
Poking fun at the veteran batsmen, he said, “On the other side, Cheteshwar Pujara has gone over the top and has swept bowlers with consistency through this series.”
Replying to this, Pujara revealed that he had been playing those shorts in practice sessions every day and now he finally got the chance to execute them in the series.
“You know that I have been working on this for quite some time and it has been almost a couple of years. It has been in all of my practice sessions and last Test match was the one where I got an opportunity to do that,” Pujara told.
This is not the first time Ashwin pulled his leg, the senior Indian batter has sledged Pujara on various occasions.
Earlier, in an interaction with Vikram Rathour (team India’s batting coach) on his Youtube channel, Ashwin challenged the batsman and asked, “Will we ever see Pujara hit an off-spinner over the top?”
Spilling more beans on his game plan, Pujara gives credit to his domestic team Saurashtra and his county stint in England.
“Lot of credit also goes to the amount of white-ball cricket I have played for Sussex and Saurashtra because that helped me gain confidence”
India beat Bangladesh by three wickets in the low-scoring second test to complete a 2-0 series sweep in Mirpur. Taking 6 wickets, Ashwin was unbeaten at 42 in the chase while the right handed batsman scored 90 and 102* across both innings in the first Test, with the hundred coming at a strike rate of 78.
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