Playing a Test against Pakistan remained unfulfilled
Former Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin said his dream of playing a Test against Pakistan remained unfulfilled. He wanted to play Tests against Pakistan since his childhood, but due to some reasons it could not happen.
Ashwin said in an interview given on Gobinath’s YouTube channel, ‘Seeing Sadgopan Ramesh inspired me to play cricket. He was the first Tamil Nadu batsman to score runs fearlessly in international cricket. I used to remember his innings against Pakistan even in my dreams.’
Ashwin retired only last week
Ashwin retired after the Brisbane Test between India and Australia on 18 December. He announced his retirement by holding a press conference along with captain Rohit Sharma. At the age of 38, he took 537 Test wickets for India, but never got a chance to play against Pakistan.
Ravi Ashwin holds the record for winning the Player of the Series award 11 times in Tests.
What did Ashwin say?
Ashwin said, ‘The biggest unfulfilled dream of my life has been to never play a Test match against Pakistan. However, it works. Now I can’t do much even thinking about something that is beyond my power to change.’
S Ramesh inspired me a lot in my childhood
Ashwin said he was inspired by former Tamil Nadu batsman S Ramesh to play Tests against Pakistan. The off-spinner said, ‘Sadgopan Ramesh is a big inspiration for me. I myself do not know how much role he has played in my life. He was the first Tamil Nadu batsman to score runs fearlessly in international cricket.
I have seen many players from Tamil Nadu make a run at the international stage, but everyone has faced some or the other problem. He certainly established himself later, but no one could play cricket the way Ramesh played. He scored runs without worry even against bowlers like Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Shoaib Akhtar. He always had a lot of time to play shots.’
Ravi Ashwin said that S Ramesh inspired him to play cricket as a child.
Ashwin went crazy for Ramesh’s shots
Ashwin further said, ‘I remember Ramesh playing a flick shot against Waqar once with one leg raised. I kept thinking about that shot all night, excited to see him bat the next day. After 5 years Ramesh and I were playing cricket in the same club team. It was a fan-boy moment for me, it’s a big inspiration for me.’
Ramesh played 19 Tests for India
Sadagopan Ramesh is a former cricketer from Tamil Nadu. He played 19 Tests for India and scored 1367 runs at an average of 37.97. He started his career in 1999 against Pakistan and scored 323 runs at an average of 53.83 in 3 Tests. He played the first Test at Chepauk Stadium, Chennai. There he scored 43 runs in 41 balls in the first innings.
S Ramesh played 19 Tests and 24 ODIs for India.
Why Ashwin could not play Test against Pakistan?
Ashwin played all three formats of cricket for India, but Tests were his best format. He played ODI and T-20 cricket against Pakistan, but never played a Test against the team. Because the bilateral series is not held due to political dispute between the two countries.
The last time India and Pakistan played a Test in 2007, Ashwin did not make his debut. He made his debut in 2011, after which he ruled the hearts of Indian fans and Test cricket for 14 years. No Test was played between India and Pakistan during this period. Ashwin was also the number-1 bowler and number-1 all-rounder in Test rankings. Even at the time of retirement, he was the No. 5 bowler and No. 3 all-rounder.
Ashwin took 13 wickets against Pakistan
Ravi Ashwin could not play a Test against Pakistan, but played 6 T20s and 8 ODIs against them. In which he took 3 wickets in T20 and 10 wickets in ODIs. He also scored 45 runs in ODIs. Ashwin scored only one run in the T20 against Pakistan, but this was perhaps the most important run of his T20 career.
Ashwin’s one run came against Pakistan in the 2022 T20 World Cup in Melbourne. While Team India needed 2 runs off 1 ball. The Pakistani bowler bowled the next ball onto the leg stump, which was deliberately missed by Ashwin, who went wide. Now the team needed 1 run, here Ashwin played a shot at mid-off and took a run. With this, the team won the exciting match by 4 wickets. Virat Kohli played a not out innings of 82 runs in this match.
Image Credit: Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).