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Published 20:17 IST, February 16th 2021

Skipper Virat Kohli motivates veteran offie R Ashwin in Tamil during Day 4 of Chennai Test

Indian skipper Virat Kohli motivated offie Ravichandran Ashwin in Tamil on Day 4 of the second Test match against England at Chennai's Chepauk Stadium

Reported by: Karthik Nair
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Indian skipper Virat Kohli had shown active involvement in the just-concluded second Test match against England at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. He had earlier kept the crowd involved with the famous 'Whistle Podu' gesture by taking inspiration from his predecessor MS Dhoni and the Chennai Super King as he was seen whistling for the fans in the middle of the wicket.

On Day 4, Kohli came up with yet another innovative technique to keep the fans, his team, and more importantly, veteran offie Ravichandran Ashwin involved in the contest.

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'Vera Level': Virat Kohli

On the fourth and final day of the contest, Virat decided to motivate Ravi Ashwin in Tamil which is not only the latter's mother tongue but is also the local language of the venue where the Test match was being contested.  This happened after the off-spinner had successfully made the middle-order batsman Ben Stokes block a delivery.

"Oh yes, Ash. Bohot badiya Ashwin. 'Vera level, vera level' ", Kohli was heard saying this from the slips. 

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Watch the video here:

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A memorable homecoming for Ravichandran Ashwin

Hometown hero Ravichandran Ashwin  was adjudged the Man of the Match for his brilliant all-round performance (scored his fifth Test century in the second innings and picked up eight scalps in both innings including a fifer in the first.)

'Ash' had also picked up nine wickets in the previous Test match that was played at the same venue last week where he had registered a six-wicket haul in the second innings to bundle England out for just 178. 

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A comprehensive win for Team India at Chepauk

The visitors, who had resumed their innings at 53/3 on Day 4 could not offer much resistance as they lost wickets at regular intervals. Skipper Root (33) and Moeen Ali (43) who had batted down at number nine in this innings tried their level best to counter-attack the Indian spinners on a raging turner but in the end, it was the spin trio who came out on top as the visitors were bundled out for just 164. 

Team India ended up registering an emphatic win by a mammoth 317 runs to level the four-match series 1-1.

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20:17 IST, February 16th 2021