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Sourav Ganguly's 'class will always show...' tweet on Ashwin and pitch after Australia hammer 480 creates buzz
After Ashwin's wonderful performance in the 4th Test vs Australia, former India captain and former BCCI president Sourav Ganguly came up with high praise.
Ravichandran Ashwin is a class apart. He is a classic example of when the going gets tough, the tough get going. Pretty much all India and Australia spinners including Ashwin have enjoyed a great time in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The pitches have been in their favour with the ball turning from Day 1. But after the Indore pitch for the third Test got a 'poor' rating from the ICC, it appears that there was some rethinking done as far as the pitches are concerned. The result was a placid batting track for the fourth Test in Ahmedabad.
Australia won the toss and had no hesitation in wanting to make the first use of the surface. Their batting unit led by a stubborn Usman Khawaja (180), who was the best touring batter even before the start of the decider, showed admirable patience and composure to make life difficult for the Indian bowlers on an unresponsive pitch.
Despite the odds, Ashwin stood up for India. He didn't have the support of his spin-bowling partners Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel but Ashwin was easily the best Indian bowler on display.
Watch: Umpire laughs after Jadeja, Rohit take horrendous review, Karthik reacts
He toiled for 47.2 overs - the most among the Indian bowlers - and got six wickets for only 91 runs. His economy rate of 1.92 was staggering. It showed the control he had even on a flat track. That was one of the major reasons why when the Australians tried to play shots in the second session, Ashwin was amongst the wickets.
He dismissed centurion Cameron Green (114) and Alex Carey (0) in one over to stop Australia's rampaging progress. He also accounted for Mitchell Starc (6). There was another frustrating 70-run stand between Todd Murphy and Nathan Lyon for the ninth wicket. Ashwin finally broke the stand by dismissing Murphy for 41 to complete his 32nd five-wicket haul. The 36-year-old then finished off the Australian innings for 480 by getting rid of Lyon for 34.
Ashwin also went past the legendary Anil Kumble to become India's leading wicket-taker against Australia. The off-spinner now has 113 wickets against Australia.
After Ashwin's wonderful performance, former India captain and former BCCI president Sourav Ganguly came up with high praise.
"Great to see Ashwin bowl so well on a good pitch .. class will always show .. hopefully, this will be a good test match .. a good opportunity for Indian batsmen after some tuff wickets to bat on, in this series," Ganguly tweeted tagging Ashwin and the BCCI.
Ganguly's wish of seeing a better performance from the Indian batters also appears to have a good chance of being fulfilled especially after seeing the kind of start India openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill got off to. Both the right-handers looked very comfortable and did not shy away from playing their strokes. India reached 36 for no loss at the close of play. They will resume batting on Day 3, trailing Australia by 444 runs.
