India was losing badly to Bangladesh in the second Test match in Mirpur, Dhaka when Ravichandran Ashwin came in to bat. After Axar Patel got out, the score was 74-7. Now as the target of 145 looked tough and steep, wagers were being placed on India’s unlikely defeat. This defeat may have been particularly humiliating since it would have come at the hands of Bangladesh, an opponent they faced in their first Test in 2000.
However, once Ashwin had been at the crease for half an hour, it was his bat that did all the talking. The situation has completely reversed itself. Ashwin (42 runs off 62 balls) and Shreyas Iyer (29 runs off 46 balls) had put together a match-winning partnership that saved India’s bacon.
Ashwin afterwards elaborated on the significance of Iyer’s knock. He said that he would have presented his Man of the match trophy to the Mumbaikar if Iyer hadn’t won the man of the series award. The game’s MVP is Ashwin.
“It was all or nothing. I thought Bangladesh did an excellent job. It had to be hard to win the game. Shreyas batted so well that I would have given this to him if he wasn’t the player of the series,” he told the host broadcasters.
“Sometimes you feel like you have to hit your way out of these situations. They did well bowling. But we had to believe in our defence. I wanted to help Shreyas, so I went in. The pitches were good, but a bit slow. But the ball changed things. The hosts put a lot of stress on us. Also, good performances,” he added.
With this victory, India improved their prospects of reaching the World Test Championship final for the second year in a row.
The spinners for Bangladesh had the Indians in their sights right from the outset of Sunday’s match. India resumed the day with a score of 45 for 4, and in the second over, they lost Jaydev Unadkat for 13.
