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Cricket PlayersAshwin's ‘Only player left from Brian Lara's playing days’ comment on Dinesh Karthik is a pure gem
After the India vs West Indies 1st T20I, Ashwin and Karthik interviewed each other and in the video shared by BCCI on Twitter, Ashwin lauded Karthik for making a comeback to the Indian T20I set-up after a long time.
The 52-run partnership off just 24 balls for the seventh wicket between Dinesh Karthik and Ravichandran Ashwin gave the Indian innings a much-needed lift towards the end and pushed their total to 190 for 6 in the first T20I against the West Indies at the Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad on Friday. The total proved to be a lot for the fragile West Indies batting unit as the Indian spinners didn't allow them to settle. India won the match easily by 68 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
After the match, Ashwin and Karthik interviewed each other and in the video shared by BCCI on Twitter, Ashwin lauded Karthik for making a comeback to the Indian T20I set-up after a long time.
"Brian Lara retired in 2007. There is only one player left when Brian Lara was actually playing cricket and he is here playing at the Brian Lara stadium," Ashwin said.
Karthik made both his Test and ODI debut in 2004 when the legendary Lara was still playing international cricket. Overwhelmed by the reaction, Karthik thanked Ashwin.
"Lovely introduction, thank you. I enjoyed it thoroughly. It was a really good game for us. A lot of things, including the conditions, were alien to us and I thought we adapted really well," he said.
Karthik scored an unbeaten 41 off just 19 balls while Ashwin remained unbeaten on 13 off 10. When asked about his batting by Karthik, Ashwin said he has been working on it for some time now.
"I've been working on my batting. Even before the game, I had communicated that we will do it if we are batting together. I think the communication part has really helped me. Even when I came in to bat I was asking how you are hitting those back-of-a-length slower deliveries," Ashwin, who also picked up two wickets for 22 runs in four overs, said.
Karthik, who has been doing a stellar job as a finisher ever since making a comeback to the Indian T20I side in the home series against South Africa, praised the facilities of the newly-built stadium
"Generally, when you come to West Indies, the grounds are not that big but this is a massive ground. The facilities are brilliant and it is very American in nature as everything is big," he added.
