Published 19:31 IST, January 17th 2021
R Ashwin tries to bamboozle Shardul Thakur-Washington Sundar as he turns anchor on Day 3
Veteran offie Ravichandran Ashwin turned anchor on Day 3 of the series-deciding fourth Test match at the Gabba, Brisbane as he interviewed three star players
Ravichandran Ashwin is warming the bench in the series-deciding fourth Test match that is currently underway at the Gabba, Brisbane due to a back strain that he had picked up during his heroic innings in the previous contest at the SCG.
However, it seems that 'Ash' has managed to find some way to keep himself engaged as he decided to play the role of an anchor after the play on Day 3 by interviewing India's star performers of this game so far i.e. Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, and, T Natarajan respectively.
'R Ashwin turns anchor'
Ashwin asked India's first innings heroes Thakur and Sundar about their mindset while stitching an important partnership and the duo explained how they went on with it.
"That was great. At that point in time, I didn't look to hit six but it was more of a reaction. I saw the ball and played that shot instinctively. So, it came out well for me. I am happy about it", said Shardul Thakur.
Shardul's batting partner Sundar admitted that Test cricket is not easy despite getting off to a dream start on debut where he finished with figures of 3/89 that included the prized wicket of Steve Smith and then played an outstanding knock of 62 with the bat.
"Not at all. Test cricket is definitely a tough format and I am very happy and fortunate that I could start off in this fashion by God's grace and a lot of support from the family. Very very fortunate", he said.
The video of the veteran offie turning anchor was posted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on their official Twitter handle. Take a look.
Shardul-Sundar help India stage a remarkable comeback
After the visitors were starring down the barrel at 186/6, both Sundar and Thakur took matters into their hands and added 123 runs for the seventh-wicket stand with both middle-order batsmen scoring half-centuries. While the southpaw scored 62, the Mumbai pacer ended up scoring 67 runs before being castled by Pat Cummins.
Their heroic partnership resurrected the Indian innings as the visitors managed to score 336 in reply to Australia's first innings total of 369.
Meanwhile, the Aussies in their second innings are 21/0 with openers Marcus Harris and David Warner remaining unbeaten on 1 and 20 respectively at stumps on Day 3. They now have a first-innings lead of 54 runs.
India will now be looking to restrict Australia to a manageable total when they take the field on Day 4 as the Gabba Test reaches the business end.
Updated 19:31 IST, January 17th 2021