File image of Ravichandran Ashwin
India’s rare ODI series loss at home, their first in four years, has led to wide-spread doubts over the Rohit Sharma-led team’s preparedness for the ODI World Cup at home later this year. India lost the series against Australia 2-1 despite winning the first ODI. India have not won an ICC Trophy since 2013, and the series loss to Australia has started murmurs regarding on whether India’s approach is right or not. Commenting on India’s batting approach, star India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin made some interesting points.
“You should be brave on these slow pitches. I don’t have any doubt about this whatsoever. In fact, what was India’s strongest forte? Slow pitches and spin it to win it. Somewhere down the line, there was spin, there was a puff of dust. See even yesterday we saw puff of dust coming from the surface. Why did you not complain and give poor rating then?” Ravichandran Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
“The pitch had puff of dust and yet Australia scored 269, right? And India almost chased it down. So, that’s all an eyewash. These type of conditions are India’s greatest conditions. We should play more games like these. In fact, India is not playing in these type of conditions. In IPL and other ODIs, we play on 340-350 types of surfaces. Let’s take the example of KL Rahul. He was in pristine form. On a slightly better pitch, his shot would not have gone for a six, but for a 12. On that pitch, it hung.
“Leading into the World Cup, if we play on these pitches and get a hand of the surfaces, India will be an unbeatable side.”
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