Ravichandran Ashwin played 14 limited-overs matches against Pakistan, but he never got to play a Test against this team.
Former Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin said his dream of playing the Test against Pakistan remains unfulfilled. He wanted to play Test against Pakistan since his childhood, but due to some reasons it couldn’t happen.
Ashwin said in an interview given on Gobinath’s YouTube channel, “I was inspired to play cricket after watching Sadagopan Ramesh. He was the first batsman from Tamil Nadu to score runs without any trouble in international cricket. I remembered his innings against Pakistan even in my dreams.
Ashwin only retired last week
Ashwin retired after the Brisbane Test between India and Australia on December 18. He had announced his retirement in a press conference with captain Rohit Sharma. At the age of 38, he took 537 Test wickets for India, but never got the chance to play against Pakistan.
Ravi Ashwin holds the record for winning the Player of the Series most times in Tests, 11 times.
What did Ashwin say?
Ashwin said: “The biggest unfulfilled dream of my life remained that I would never be able to play a Test match against Pakistan. However, it works. Now I can’t do much, even thinking about something I’m not able to change.
S Ramesh inspired me a lot in my childhood.
Ashwin said he was inspired by former Tamil Nadu batsman S Ramesh to play Test against Pakistan. The player said, “Sadagopan Ramesh is a big inspiration for me. I myself don’t know what role he played in my life. He was the first batsman from Tamil Nadu to score runs fearlessly in international cricket.
I have seen many Tamil Nadu players scoring runs on the international stage, but everyone was facing one problem or the other. He definitely established himself later, but no one could play cricket like Ramesh played it. He also scored worry-free runs against bowlers like Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Shoaib Akhtar. He always had plenty of time to play shots.
Ravi Ashwin said, “S Ramesh inspired him to play cricket in his childhood.
He was going crazy over Ramesh’s shots – Ashwin Ashwin added, “I remember Ramesh once playing a quick shot against Waqar by lifting one leg. I thought about that shot all night, I was excited to see his hitter the next day. After 5 years, Ramesh and I were playing cricket in the same club team. It was a fan boy moment for me, she is a big inspiration to me.
Ramesh played 19 Tests for India. Sadagopan Ramesh is a former cricketer from Tamil Nadu. He played 19 Tests for India and scored 1367 runs at an average of 37.97. He started his career in 1999 against Pakistan and scored 323 runs in 3 Tests at an average of 53.83. He played the first Test at Chepauk Stadium, Chennai. There, he scored 43 runs off 41 balls in the first innings.
S Ramesh has played 19 Tests and 24 ODIs for India.
Why Ashwin couldn’t play Test against Pakistan? Ashwin has played cricket for India in all three formats, but Test was his best format. He played ODI and T-20 cricket against Pakistan, but never got to play Test against that team. Indeed, the bilateral series do not take place due to political differences between the two countries.
The last time there was a Test between India and Pakistan was in 2007, Ashwin didn’t make his debut then. He was lucky enough to make his debut in 2011, after which he ruled the hearts of Indian fans and Test cricket for 14 years. During this period, no Test took place between India and Pakistan. Ashwin was also the number 1 bowler and number 1 all-rounder in the Test rankings. Even at the time of his retirement, he was the number 5 bowler and the number 3 all-rounder.
Ravi Ashwin took 13 wickets against Pakistan. Ravi Ashwin could not play in the Test against Pakistan, but played 6 T20s and 8 ODIs against them. In these, he took 3 wickets in T-20 and 10 wickets in ODIs. He also scored 45 runs in ODIs. Ashwin scored just one run in the T20 against Pakistan, but it was perhaps the most important run of his T20 career.
Ashwin’s only run against Pakistan came during the T20 World Cup 2022 in Melbourne. When Indian team needed 2 runs from 1 ball. The Pakistani bowler bowled the next ball on leg stump, which was missed by Ashwin, who went wide. Now the team needed a point, here Ashwin played a shot to mid off and took a point. With this, the team won the exciting match by 4 wickets. Virat Kohli played a no-out innings of 82 runs in the match.
Ravi Ashwin scored the only run against Pakistan in the 2022 T20 World Cup.