T20 World Cup 2024

‘If that Nawaz ball had turned…’ – Ravichandran Ashwin comes up with a bold remark after India-Pakistan clash

India had a 20-20 World Cup 2022 opening game to remember as they won a nail-biting game of the last ball against Pakistan by four wickets at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). Virat Kohli scored a match-winning innings of unbeaten 82 to steer India home. 

In a dramatic final over bowled by Mohammad Nawaz, which had virtually everything happen from no balls and wides, to free hits, Ravichandran Ashwin came to the crease when India needed 2 runs off 1 to win the match.

When Nawaz fired a ball down the leg side, Ashwin calmly walked across and let the ball go for a wide. In a video shared on the Indian Cricket Board Website. Ashwin made a funny comment where he remarked, ‘what if that Nawaz ball had turned’.

Speaking of the incident to the Indian Cricket Board, Ashwin said: “Somebody asked me if that Nawaz ball had turned and hit you on the pads, what would you have done?. I said I would’ve quickly rushed to the dressing room picked up my Twitter and said ‘Thank you for all the great times I have had in my cricketing career. It was a wonderful journey (laughs).”

India won the match by four wickets

Ashwin was cool, calm, and collected under pressure where he after calming the wide, India needed one run from a ball left. He came down the track to Nawaz and gently lifted the left-arm spinner over mid-off to give India a famous win over Pakistan.

The ace off-spinner was lauded for his composure under pressure on social media. Kohli further went on to say in the post-match interview that Ashwin used ‘Dimag ke upar extra dimag’ when he let the Nawaz’s ball go for a wide. It is probably because of his ability to soak in the pressure and deliver the goods that Ashwin was preferred over Yuzvendra Chahal in the high-octane clash.

India came back beautifully in the game when Kohli and Pandya resurrected the innings with a match-turning 113-run partnership between the two.