R Ashwin on India having advantage of playing in Dubai: ‘Tournaments are won on the basis of performances not excuses’

[Tillu]

R Ashwin has made a scathing attack on those who have said that India are having an advantage playing in Dubai in the ongoing Champions Trophy.

“Tournaments are won on the basis of performances, not excuses,” Ashwin said on his Hindi YouTube channel “Ash Ki Baat.”

“I am laughing when people ask our captain and coach the same question about having an advantage playing in Dubai. In the 2009 Champions Trophy, South Africa played all their games at the same venue and even then they failed to qualify for the knockouts. It was not South Africa’s fault that they didn’t qualify then. Teams qualified only because they play good cricket,” he said.

India have won all their matches in Dubai, including against the eventual finalists, New Zealand.

 

“India is in the final because they have played solid cricket. No matter what happens in the final, they deserved to be finalists because of the kind of cricket they have played. Please don’t throw mud at our own cricketers because of someone else’s narrative.

“I know a Test team that travels to India, loses the series, and then blames it on the pitches. Imagine an Indian cricketer coming out and saying such things if we lost a series overseas. We never do that.

“If India wins this trophy, we will be winning the title back-to-back. Let’s celebrate them. Don’t buy into this narrative.”

In the 2023 ODI World Cup, India traveled 8400 km in their league stage alone.

 

“In the 2023 World Cup, we played at nine different venues. I was with the team, I traveled with the team. I agree with David Miller, a one and a half hour flight does increase lactic acid in your body. But you must understand it is not in the Indian team’s hands. The ICC has made the fixtures. This schedule was decided even before an Indian became ICC chief,” he said.

 

Indianexpress

[Tillu]

Virat Kohli is able to play the way he is playing because of Shreyas Iyer: R Ashwin

R Ashwin has showered praise on India’s No. 4 Shreyas Iyer. The former India cricketer credited Virat Kohli’s success to Shreyas Iyer’s dominance against the spinners in the middle overs in the ongoing Champions Trophy.

Shreyas Iyer might not have scored a century or claimed the Player-of-the-Match award so far, but he is marginally behind the leading run-getter against spin in the tournament, and easily the most prolific against spin in Dubai. Iyer has managed 195 runs in four outings so far in the tournament, and Ashwin said he could be the game-changer against New Zealand in the Champions Trophy final.

“For me, the game-changer will be Shreyas Iyer. It is because of his recent form,” Ashwin said on his Hindi YouTube channel “Ash Ki Baat.”

“He was doing a post-match with Robin Uthappa. Robin asked him, how he is so composed? Then he said, ‘I have worked on my breathing technique.’ This guy has had an excellent 2023 World Cup. He has batted well against New Zealand. He has played well at the Wankhede in Mumbai. And once again, in this tournament, he has looked crackerjack,” said Ashwin.  

 

Ashwin also lauded Iyer for working on his game against short-pitched bowling.

 

“He has worked well on his short-ball game as well. Of course, he got out in the last game. But it shouldn’t matter. I think this is Shreyas Iyer’s biggest strength. He wants to get better at what he is not good at,” he said.

Against Pakistan, Iyer stitched a 114-run stand for the third wicket with Virat Kohli, who remained unbeaten on 100. Against New Zealand, Shreyas walked in with India reeling at 30 for 3, then he forged a match-changing 98-run stand with Axar Patel. Shreyas scored 79. Against Australia in the semifinal, India were again in a spot of bother at 42 for 2, but Iyer put together a 91-run stand with Virat Kohli to steer India out of trouble.  

“The way he plays, it helps Virat Kohli,” said Ashwin.

 

“There was a question with Gauti in the press conference. What was the conversation with Virat? Because he got out against a leg-spinner. Gauti gave an amazing answer. A guy has played 300 games. Obviously, he will get out. But apart from that, there is one thing: Virat Kohli is able to play the way he is playing because Shreyas Iyer is playing this way against spin.

“So, the captains are in a catch-22 situation. There will be a partnership between Shreyas and Virat. When there is a partnership between Virat and Shreyas, the captains can’t enforce a spin choke. Shreyas is removing all the pressure from Virat. So, these two in the middle overs have forged a formidable pair.

“And for Virat’s success, Shreyas Iyer has played a part in it. And for Shreyas’s success, Virat has a part in it. Because this is what people call playing in partnerships.

“Because if fast bowlers attack Shreyas Iyer, Virat Kohli can easily score runs; he can even hit the odd boundary. So, this is a combination that is made possible by Shreyas Iyer’s batting against spin. In these conditions, you can’t enforce a spin choke against India because Shreyas is batting like this. If Shreyas gets out, then it is a problem.

 

Indianexpress

 

 

[Tillu]

Kane Williamson vs Ravindra Jadeja contest can decide the outcome of the Champions Trophy final: R Ashwin

 

 

 

“If you are a cricket connoisseur, then Kane Williamson vs. Ravindra Jadeja is the most fascinating battle,” Ashwin said on his Hindi YouTube channel “Ash Ki Baat.”

“While facing Jadeja, Kane Williamson moves towards leg stump because he knows Jaddu is troubling him. Sometimes he steps out and plays the chip shot over the bowler or extra cover. He even tries to play the cut shot on the back foot. It’s a cat and mouse situation. Kane Williamson wants to get on top of Jadeja. On the other hand, Jaddu too varies his length and speed.

“They are like Tom and Jerry in the middle. This contest can decide the outcome of the game. It’s a fascinating contest between Kane Williamson and Ravindra Jadeja.

“Williamson batted well against Varun and Kuldeep, yes Axar got him out, but it was Jadeja who troubled him the most.

“Jaddu is quicker than a usual left-arm spinner. It is difficult to play the cut shot against Jaddu and literally impossible to sweep him. Yes, you can play the slog sweep, but you can’t play the traditional sweep against Jadeja.

“Jaddu’s advantage over Kane Williamson is that he never bowls slow against Kane Williamson and he also gets turn. It is because of his lovely release, high release point, and the revolution he puts on the ball

“But Kane is a clever guy. That’s why he shows all his stumps, asks Jaddu to bowl into the stumps, and he plays those chip shots over the covers. In the last game, he did the same against Jadeja,” he said

 

Indianexpress

 

[goose]

there is a cultural difference between india and the west (especially the english). the latter's sense of fairness is deeply linked to how things look, perceptions of right and wrong are often black and white. this makes the UK a high trust society. but it has its drawbacks. indians always focus on how we got here and likes to explore motives. my two cents!

[Gollum]

More importantly, recently Ashwin called out how the 2 new balls and 5 fielders In circle rules were brought in to negate India's strengths. 

 

Instead of useless issues, our ex-players should highlight these genuine injustices like umpire's call bias, WTC final venue, hypocrisy in pitch ratings etc. 

[coffee_rules]

Ashwin is an avid reader of the game. Most of his analysis is spot on

[Vicks57]

This man Ashwin is so insufferable.

 

Mofo did not even criticise the Ahmedabad pitch decision by Dravid/Rohit.

 

Badrinath told the truth about what Haydos thought about the pitch and criticised Dravid/Rohit.

[rkt.india]

21 minutes ago, Vicks57 said:

This man Ashwin is so insufferable.

 

Mofo did not even criticise the Ahmedabad pitch decision by Dravid/Rohit.

 

Badrinath told the truth about what Haydos thought about the pitch and criticised Dravid/Rohit.

It was the same pitch against Pakistan too who got out of 192. Don't know what this pitch fiasco is. It was win the toss, win the match venue irrespective of the pitch. We won the toss against Pakistan.

[Gollum]

16 minutes ago, Vicks57 said:

This man Ashwin is so insufferable.

 

Mofo did not even criticise the Ahmedabad pitch decision by Dravid/Rohit.

 

Badrinath told the truth about what Haydos thought about the pitch and criticised Dravid/Rohit.

Why will Ashwin criticize Ahmedabad pitch when he was part of that squad? He is not an outsider to make such observations. Maybe he will reflect on those things later in life. Also the fact that he was not selected that day or in WTC final will be bigger talking points at least in his mind. 

[Gollum]

Goras must be systematically rebuffed, by carefully constructed points and analysis. Not emotional lash outs like Gavaskar/Shastri, those can be laughed away. Ashwin is on the right track but must be more refined. The evil western cricket establishment and narrative must be ruthlessly destroyed. Won't even talk about neighbors because they are just lackeys of the goras. 

[tapandrun]

Posted same on other thread as well:

regardless of conditions and advantage all pundits/gurus/ex-player were predicting ind vs nz final no one mentioned ind had advantage of playing at 1 ground  when tournament was starting, now every1 sees it, previously there analysis was Ind and Nz are string teams and most of their player are in form and have most of their 1st pick players available for selection and aus is without 5/6 regulars, eng is not top team right now so Nz and Ind and now its because Ind has unfair advantage  

Edited March 9 by tapandrun

[jf1gp_1]

I have a simple questions 

 

Would Pakistan, England, Bangladesh reached CT final had they played all their games in Dubai ? Answer is NO. So dont know why they are cribbing specially England who didnt even travel to Dubai. 

 

Australia and maybe South Africa would have benifited had they only played in Dubai but lets not forget Aussies had two washed out game and in Dubai likes of Afghanistan, South africa and even BD could have troubled them. 

[rollingstoned]

10 hours ago, tapandrun said:

Posted same on other thread as well:

regardless of conditions and advantage all pundits/gurus/ex-player were predicting ind vs nz final no one mentioned ind had advantage of playing at 1 ground  when tournament was starting, now every1 sees it, previously there analysis was Ind and Nz are string teams and most of their player are in form and have most of their 1st pick players available for selection and aus is without 5/6 regulars, eng is not top team right now so Nz and Ind and now its because Ind has unfair advantage  

By all accounts even if we had somehow agreed to play in Pakistan all the matches would have been at Gaddafi stadium. Would it also have been an issue then? this is more a broadcaster issue than a desire to award an advtg to one team.

[sugumarrising]

ABSOLUTELY RIGHT, EVEN SMITH DIDN'T CARE ABOUT IT (WHEN ASKED ABOUT ADVANTAGE) THAT IS WHY AUSTRALIA IS A GREAT CRICKETING NATION, BUT OUR NEIGHBOUR ALWAYS COMPLAIN WHEN WE WIN A TOURNAMENT, EVEN IN PP FORUM THEY SAID WE WON AGAINST AUSTRALIA B TEAM, THEIR FAST BOWLERS ARE ONLY ABSENT, EVEN FOR US WE LOST BUMRAH FOR THIS SERIES WHICH IS A HUGE SETBACK EVEN IF AUSTRALIA GOT ALL OF THEIR MAIN FAST BOWLERS THEY WOULDN'T MAKE ANY IMPACT BECAUSE SPIN ONLY PLAYED A HUGE ROLE IN DUBAI, FOR NEW ZEALAND THEY PLAYED WITH THEIR FULL STRENGTH, HENRY INJURED BEFORE THE FINAL NOBODY CAN DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT, SO WE WON AGAINST A FULL STRENGTH NEW ZEALAND SIDE, TEAMS LIKE AUSTRALIA, INDIA THEY NEVER COMPLAIN AND CRY LIKE BABIES THAT IS WHY THEIR GRAPHS ARE ALWAYS IN THE ASCENDING, "OUR COWARDLY NEIGHBOUR :- PERFORMANCE - 0, SHOWOFF - 100, ATTITUDE - 100, THEY HAVE GONE FROM BAD TO WORSE, IN THE NEXT 3 OR 4 YEARS AFGHANISTAN IS GOING TO SMASH THEM LEFT & RIGHT.

[vvvslaxman]

We need more voices to silence these fools

[StraightDrive26]

I know it is a long shot but if somehow we can win the series in England, everyone will shut up for good.

[putrevus]

Ashwin has been very decent in his analysis, he does not get hyper.He should be doing on TV.

 

 

Edited March 12 by putrevus