Virat Kohli showered praise on Ravichandran Ashwin for showing great presence of mind in the final over against Pakistan. Kohli smashed 82 runs off 53 balls as India secured a thrilling 4-wicket victory over rivals Pakistan in the Super-12 stage of the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
Speaking to Star Sports after the match, Kohli lauded Ashwin for being brave in a complicated situation during the final over against Pakistan.
“When you need 15-16 runs per over, and then the equation comes down to 2 runs off 2 balls, people can get relaxed or over-excited that this target is almost achieved. Then Dinesh Karthik got out. I told Ashwin to hit over the covers. But uss time pe Ash ne dimaag ke uppar extra dimaag lagya (Ashwin used his brain at that point of time). That was a very brave thing to do. He came inside the line and the ball turned out to be a wide. The situation was that if the ball goes into the gap, we will end up winning and that is what happened,” said Kohli.
Ashwin was sent out to bat when India needed 2 runs to win off the last ball. While many expected the spinner to hit the gap or slog the ball, Ashwin calmly allowed Mohammad Nawaz’s delivery to slide down the leg side. This led to the ball being called wide, leveling the score for India. He then hit the ball over the mid-off fielder as the final delivery was re-bowled by Nawaz, winning the match for India.
With this win, India moves to second place in Group-2 of the Super-12 stage, behind Bangladesh, who are ahead on the basis of a superior net run-rate. The men in blue will now turn their focus on the Netherlands, who they face on October 27.
