Ravichandran Ashwin has been enjoying an amazing time with the bat and ball in recent times. The 36 year old became the fastest Indian and 2nd fastest bowler in the world to reach 450 test wickets. Ashwin was again the man to watch out for as he picked 6 wickets in the game. Three wickets in each innings was crucial as India ran out winners by 6 wickets in the 2nd test at New Delhi to claim a 2-0 lead in the series as the two teams head to Indore for the 3rd game.
When Smith and Kohli burst out laughing –
Ashwin has been playing mind games with Marnus Labuschagne since the first test. The 36 year old Ashwin is known to wily with his bowling and his mind games. On Sunday, Ashwin had got the wicket of Travis Head early.
Smith had come to the wicket to join Labuschagne in a bid to increase the lead. Ashwin was bowling from round the wicket to Labuschagne. That’s when the Indian bowler decided to stop in his tracks and play mind games with the batter. Seeing this Steve Smith and Virat Kohli broke into laughter.
Ashwin’s game to remember –
Ravichandran Ashwin got 6 wickets as he picked 3 wickets in each innings. With the bat, the 36 year old scored 37 off 71 balls with 5 fours to his name. Ashwin added 114 runs for the 8th wicket along with Axar Patel after India were at one stage struggling at 139 for 7.
India team unchanged for the final two tests –
Meanwhile, there was no call up for Sarfaraz Khan or Prithvi Shaw as the two were ignored yet again. The selectors retained the same team that has won the first two tests at Nagpur and Delhi. The third game is to be played from 1st March at Indore before moving to Ahmedabad for the final test starting 9th.
KL Rahul removed from vice-captaincy –
Another huge development was the removal of KL Rahul from the vice captaincy role after his failures with the bat. Rahul has been retained in the side but is expected to be dropped and make way for Shubman Gill at Indore. Rahul scored mere 18 runs in the game with 17 off them coming in the 1st innings. Rahul hasn’t scored a half century for India since last year when he scored a 50 during the tour of South Africa.