India defeated Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and won the series 2-1. India had lost the first Test in Adelaide after getting all out for a merge 36 runs. India staged a fantastic comeback by winning the Test matches in Melbourne and Brisbane. They were on the verge of losing the third Test match in Sydney, as they were five wickets down with 44 overs remaining in the fourth inning of the match. It was the resilience of Ravi Ashwin and Hanuma Vihari that India was able to rescue this match.
Ravichandran Ashwin shared a video on his Facebook under the title ‘Sayonara Sydney’. It is part of an internet series called ‘Kangaroo Bhoomi’ that is essentially about some fun incidents which took place during the Test match inside and outside the dressing room. Watch the full video here:
Ashwin was discussing about his match-saving partnership with Hanuma Vihari. Both of them batted for 44 overs without losing their patience. He said that at a point Vihari was finding it difficult to face Nathan Lyon, when both of them decided to change the strategy a bit and rotate the strike to break the bowlers’ rhythm. At the same time, coach Ravi Shastri who was watching this game from the dressing room sent Shardul Thakur from the dressing room with a message saying that Vihari and Ashwin, both must hold each one of the ends. When Shardul came on the field with drinks, Aswin said that, “He came running and was breathless when he reached the pitch. He said there are so many instructions which were coming from the dressing room,” Ashwin got curious and asked about the instructions to which Shardul just said ‘both of you are playing great, just continue batting the way you are.’ Ashwin was surprised a bit with this reaction from Shardul Thakur, which he later termed as “cute”. Nonetheless, as things turned out, Thakur’s ‘instructions’ weren’t too bad, isn’t it?
Another fun incident that was shared by Ashwin was about coach Ravi Shastri’s habit of saying ‘Shabash’. Sydney Test was a real ‘test’ of patience and ‘defense’ for both Vihari and Ashwin. Both had to bat for more than 40 overs to save the Test match. Things were quite intense towards the end of second session and the beginning of the third. After every ball that Ashwin, Ravi Shastri went on to say, “Shabash Ash” and “Shabash” for every ball that was defended by Hanuma Vihari. Ashwin said, “Shabash Vihari” would have been too long a word to say after every ball.
This new series garnered a lot of attention on social media and the fans are now waiting for more such videos to have a sneak-peak inside the Indian dressing room.