Asia Cup 2018: Ravichandran Ashwin Sheds Light on India's Chances
Updated - 10 Jan 2019, 12:14 AM
The last night (September 18) birthday boy, Ravichandran Ashwin speaks on the ongoing prestigious tournament Asia Cup 2018. Off-Spinner maintained India is a pretty strong unit if compared with any team in the world cricket. He feels that India has an excellent chance to win the game against Pakistan and coveted trophy as well.
The flamboyant players spoke on various aspects of the game. He highlighted the fact that the matches between India and Pakistan will make or break a cricketer’s career.
All in all, he feels it is an exciting contest looking up front.
Champions Trophy final will not be baggage – Ravichandran Ashwin
An ace off-spinner asserted that he doesn’t think the final of ICC Champions Trophy 2017 will affect the team in any way. He firmly believes that India has got the great potential in their ranks to outsmart any opposition on their day.
Further, he feels that the senior players in the team won’t mind about the hype of the game as they’ve already seen such kind of stuff in their careers. Ashwin also added that it is special for youngsters to mould their careers.
”India-Pakistan matches can make or break careers. If you remember even Sourav Ganguly’s career as captain went downhill after the Pakistan series. Dada took over after Azhar and completely changed Indian cricket. India started winning abroad when Dada became the captain. India-Pakistan cricket takes out a lot of players but also gives rise to a lot of players. I also rose from India-Pakistan cricket,” Ashwin said.
Ravichandran Ashwin feels that India deliver the goods in Asia Cup 2018 without any distractions of losing in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 grand finale at The Oval.
”I do believe, man-to-man we are a very strong unit compared to most teams around the world. I don’t think the Champions Trophy final loss will be a baggage on any player. If anything it will only spur them on to dish out their best in the Asia Cup, Ashwin added.
”You want to see the Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan’s to get through the first 15 overs. But having been with this Indian team for quite some time now, the hype of playing against Pakistan doesn’t really matter,” he continued.
On Chances for youngsters in the absence of Virat Kohli:
The off-spinner added that it will be the best chance for the youngsters to grab the opportunity in the absence of Virat Kohli. He felt that KL Rahul would be eagerly licking his lips to cement his place in the side.
”Knowing KL Rahul, he will be looking at this as an opportunity. There is no sense of element of people thinking like, “Here is my chance, let me graft a 60 off 60 balls. That’s not happening in the dressing room now. People go out and take it with both hands, they want to rule the roost and not join as one of those people who is joining the XI,” he added.
On India vs Pakistan encounter:
He feels that the game against the arch-rivals is always a pressure-filled contest. Ashwin added that the players would escape by saying it as just another game, but he termed it as the adrenaline rush where you need to be on your toes throughout the game.
”Billions of Indians and Pakistanis will identify themselves with this particular game. So it is very hard to brush under the carpet saying it’s just another game. That is a way of handling the pressure for most of us,” Ashwin continued.
”In most games, you have the extra second to pull out and think about what you are doing and what can be done. But against Pakistan, it’s more like an adrenaline rush. A team or an individual that controls this adrenaline rush always comes out on top,” he inferred.
However, as Ravichandran Ashwin said, it is going to be cracking contest on Wednesday of the 14th edition of Asia Cup 2018. Players of both the nations are eager to perform for their team while the fans of either team wait for the visual treat.
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India National Cricket Team Pakistan national cricket team Ravichandran Ashwin
