Rate my defence strongly, have worked on my backlift, power-hitting: Ashwin | Cricket News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Ravichandran Ashwin once again showed his batting prowess to help India eke out a narrow three-wicket win over Bangladesh in the second Test at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka on Sunday.
Reeling at 74/7 in their small pursuit of 145, Ashwin led a remarkable fightback and put on an unbeaten 71-run stand with Shreyas Iyer to guide India to 2-0 series sweep.
Ashwin said that he has worked a lot on aspects of his batting, like his backlift, power-hitting and rates his defence as strong.
“I rate my defence strongly. Test cricket is played around defence as a batter. Modern cricket asks you to take the aerial route. I do not think it is right when two bowlers are making pressure on you. You cannot get away with it every time. It looks great when it comes off, but Tests under pressure need to be played with a steely defence. I have played a lot more shots, have confidence to clear the fence. I have worked a lot on my backlift, my base and power-hitting. I have that confidence in me,” said Ashwin in a video posted by BCCI that also features batter Cheteshwar Pujara.

Ashwin revealed that when he walked out to bat, his first target was to get through the lunch and lauded Shreyas Iyer for his composure.
“When I walked out I thought we had to grind through the situation. Shreyas had a really good composure. I just told him to get his job done, be it in 10 overs or after lunch. Initially, my aim was to get through lunch. There was some balls that went here and there. There was a catch that went to fine leg. So I thought I need to push up the intent and also have a good defence. We played well and pushed the accelerator at the right time,” said Ashwin.
Cheteshwar Pujara said that he was happy to showcase his variety of shots throughout the series.
“I was really happy with the way things went in the second innings (in first Test). It was an ideal situation to showcase the shots I had been practicing. Lot of credit goes to white-ball cricket for Sussex and Saurashtra, it helped me gain confidence,” he added.
Ashwin said that he is looking forward to defending the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia on home soil.
Earlier opting to bat first, Bangladesh was bundled out for 227 in the first innings, with Mominul Haque (84) being the top-scorer. Umesh Yadav (4/25) and Ravichandran Ashwin (4/71) impressed with the ball for India.
India gained an 87-run lead in the match and were bundled out for 314 in their first innings. Rishabh Pant (93) and Shreyas Iyer (87) posted valuable knocks with the bat. Taijul Islam (4/74) and Shakib al Hasan (4/79) were the standout bowlers for the hosts.
Bangladesh outscored themselves in their second innings, bundled out for 231 runs. Litton Das (73) and Zakir Hasan (51) scored valuable half-centuries, while lower middle-order/lower order Nurul Hasan (31) and Taskin Ahmed (31) also scored some important runs after Bangladesh was six down for 113.
Axar Patel (3/68) was the leading bowler for India. Ashwin and Mohammed Siraj took two wickets. Umesh also got a wicket.
Bangladesh had a lead of 144 runs in the match and gave a target of 145 runs to India. India was down 74/7, but Ravichandran Ashwin (42*) and Shreyas Iyer (29*) took India to a seven-wicket win.
Ravichandran Ashwin was declared the player of the match for his match-winning knock in the second innings.
Cheteshwar Pujara was chosen as the player of the series for scoring 192 runs in the two tests which included a century and a half-century.
(With Agency Inputs)