Sports

Ravichandran Ashwin: It Is Always Amazing To Play In Chennai

After playing a match-winning performance in the first Test against Bangladesh, Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin expressed his feelings on playing at his home ground, M A Chidambaram Stadium.

Indian spinning duo Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja took India to a comfortable victory of 280 runs over Bangladesh in the first Test of the two-match series on Sunday.

Ashwin was awarded the Player of the Match for his magnificent all-round performance (ton and fifer). With the bat, the right-hand batter played a knock of 113 runs from 133 balls, which was laced with 11 boundaries and two maximums in the innings. With the ball, off spinner bagged six wickets in his spell of 21 overs, where he conceded 88 runs.

MUST READ | Mitchell Starc Feels This Teenager Is ‘Ready’ To Debut For Australia

“Every time I play in Chennai in front of this crowd, it’s an amazing feeling for me. I have watched a lot of Test cricket and international cricket sitting in those stands. To play in front of those stands, it’s a beautifully renovated stadium now, that itself is a special feeling for me. I am probably enjoying my game because of what I am doing and not because of what I want to get out of it. It was an opportunity to fight and dig in deep, that’s one of the reasons why we all play the game. I have seen so many of my teammates do that in the past,” Ashwin said in the post match presentation.

The 38-year-old further spoke about his knock and thanked all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja for guiding him through the tough phases of the innings.

“I just kept it really simple, have to thank Jadeja for what he did, he just took me through the tough phases of the innings. Quite a special knock on the first day, didn’t sink in until day two. Glad I ended up with a few wickets today as well. I make a living by bowling, so bowling comes first all the time. I think like a bowler mostly but I have made a conscious effort to think like a batter when I walk out with a bat in my hand. Batting is something that comes naturally but yet I have struggled sometimes with my thought getting ahead of myself. I have tried to manage it. Over the last few years, I have managed to compartmentalize both, but it is a work in process,” the off-spinner added.