IND vs AUS: Is 100 Even A Target? Ravichandran Ashwin Rips Apart Hardik Pandya For Crticizing Pitches In The New Zealand Series

The 36-year-old India National Cricket Team off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has shared his views on the low-scoring T20I between India and New Zealand at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow.

The second T20I of the three-match series between India and New Zealand was played on January 29 in Lucknow and a tough batting track was produced for the match.

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New Zealand won the toss and chose to bat first in the match. All the batters struggled against the Indian bowling unit and the BlackCaps were restricted to 99/8 in their 20 overs. Mitchell Santner was the top run-getter for his side with 19 runs under his belt while Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Deepak Hooda and Hardik Pandya picked up one wicket each and Arshdeep Singh bagged two wickets.

Chasing the target, India’s top-3 – Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan and Rahul Tripathi –batted slow and got dismissed inside 11 overs.

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In the end, Suryakumar Yadav (26*) alongside Hardik Pandya (15*) steered India to a nervy 6-wicket victory on the last-second ball of the 20th over. Notably, a total of 239 balls were bowled in the match, but not even a single six was hit.

That low-scoring game became a thriller – Ravichandran Ashwin

In a video shared on his official YouTube channel, Ravichandran Ashwin said:

“The main thing I noticed in the series against New Zealand was the low-scoring game in the T20Is. Many of them (fans) asked, “Is 100 even a target or what? Why did they make it so difficult?” I noticed some of those comments in our YouTube section and felt really bad reading those comments.”

Ravichandran Ashwin added that modern-day batters don’t play spinning balls very well. He said:

“In today’s world, when it comes to T20 cricket, a batter’s requirement is just how well he can hit through the line when the ball is pitched up. 170-180 is considered the minimum score these days. They don’t face turning balls or lateral moment so much in T20 cricket. They don’t have enough practice to face that as well.”

Ravichandran Ashwin further said that just like a high-scoring thrilling game, a low-scoring thrilling match is also a great advertisement for the game. He said:

“That low-scoring game became a thriller. But did the ball turn massively? Yes, the odd-ball did turn massively. But, just like a high-scoring thriller, a low-scoring thriller is also a great advertisement for the game.”

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