What the **** was that Ashwin?! Ashwin's response (post #87)

[The Outsider]

Only on ICF will you find a thread criticizing someone who has picked up 20 wickets in his first 3 test matches and scored a test century.

[kubrickian]

saying "2 wkts out of last 2 balls" - is also as much hypothetical. Btw, there were 2-3 missed chances for runouts, within last 1 hour or so. So, it was more reasonable to hope for fumble, than otherwise. Also, in a last ball do or die situation - you do not think about all that if-then-else, you just go all out, hoping for the best.

The guy is playing his first test series. Give him a break. You are just making up stuff about what he should have done in the comfort of your home. Much more easier than doing it out in the middle in front of millions of people. I still think he did a great job, first by making sure India didnt lose the test and then tried his best to win the game but fell short. Great effort IMO.

[f.b.m]

Only on ICF will you find a thread criticizing someone who has picked up 20 wickets in his first 3 test matches and scored a test century.

If its any consolation, others would have accused him of match fixing by this time.

[phaedrus]

wasn't there a poster talking about everything being very suspicious?

[akshayxyz]

He thought the throw would be at the bowlers end. He kept the bat grounded till Aaron reached this end and then turned around. But throw was at the right end

But doesn't the conventional wisdom say, throw at the end batsman is running to and every WI-ian must have assumed they would fight for 2. In other words - what should he have done - had it been WC final, and it came to that very last run... Nothing to take away from him for his efforts in the series/match - but if, in future, such a situation comes for him or anyone else - then better run like a madman than be calculative.

[Talwar]

:hysterical::hysterical: can't believe people are giving so much importance to this dumb thread opened by me.....:hysterical::hysterical:

[ganeshran]

But doesn't the conventional wisdom say' date=' throw at the end batsman is running to and every WI-ian must have assumed they would fight for 2.[/quote'] Conventional wisdom for a fielder would be to throw to the closer end. But he picked the right end, given that Ashwin is slower than Aaron. The theory that he kept his bat grounded for Aaron to reach was wrong as I had just saw the clip once in real time. The ball had already crossed Ashwin (or reached near him) before he grounded his bat at the non striker end. His delay in turning for the 2nd might have been because the ball had already crossed him. But yes, he should have run regardless.

[Trichromatic]

Today I have learnt a new thing that you have to atleast try to run 2nd even if you cant get run to show that you were going for a win. And the arguement,if he had run wk may have fumbled is as absurd as it can get,I can say if he went for the run ,he might have slipped while running.All may,might scenarios. Regarding Ashwin blocking the throw,isnt that amount to obstructing the field acc. to new rules

http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DfH4CSrHU0j0

[Sid]

What is point of this video?Completely different situation,a keeper was caught napping there.

[akshayxyz]

The guy is playing his first test series. Give him a break. You are just making up stuff about what he should have done in the comfort of your home. Much more easier than doing it out in the middle in front of millions of people. I still think he did a great job' date=' first by making sure India didnt lose the test and then tried his best to win the game but fell short. Great effort IMO.[/quote'] As I said - nothing to take away from his effort in the series/match. He did best to his abilities and knowledge ( may be even surpassed that). All I am saying is, this is a learning for future that sometimes you better be a madman than a calculative genius. e.g. natural_Sehwag is better than wise_SRT in certain situations. I will repeat again - in do or die situation, you better not calculate stuff (where the ball is, over the head, or 5 meters before the head) - just run like mad man that is it. We saw WK fumbled before, and it was equally likely that it might have happened again. That is upto chance, what was in his hand was - his best effort - or "leap of faith". Btw, the ball was already over the head (yet to check) because he had slowed down to touch down, whereas, look how quickly Varun Aaron turned.. almost in no time.

[phaedrus]

http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DfH4CSrHU0j0

come on, you cant expect ashwin to run between the wickets like dhoni. he is a mix of kumble and laxman

[kubrickian]

As I said - nothing to take away from his effort in the series/match. He did best to his abilities and knowledge ( may be even surpassed that). All I am saying is, this is a learning for future that sometimes you better be a madman than a calculative genius. e.g. natural_Sehwag is better than wise_SRT in certain situations. I will repeat again - in do or die situation, you better not calculate stuff (where the ball is, over the head, or 5 meters before the head) - just run like mad man that is it. We saw WK fumbled before, and it was equally likely that it might have happened again. That is upto chance, what was in his hand was - his best effort - or "leap of faith". Btw, the ball was already over the head (yet to check) because he had slowed down to touch down, whereas, look how quickly Varun Aaron turned.. almost in no time.

Check the video again. He did run fast. I dont understand why you keep repeating whatever you wrote over and again. The ball was already going to the keeper by the time he turned for the second. Also its much more easier for the non striker to finish a run than the striker for obvious reasons. So what's the point in comparing with Aaron ?

[ganeshran]

Btw, the ball was already over the head (yet to check) because he had slowed down to touch down, whereas, look how quickly Varun Aaron turned.. almost in no time.

Ashwin isnt as quick as Aaron plus he had a headstart as he started running much before. The ball reached the fielder before Ashwin crossed the halfway mark. He didnt slow down to touch, he slowed after it because the ball crossed him. He still should have run but that wouldnt have made any difference.

[Trichromatic]

come on' date=' you cant expect ashwin to run between the wickets like dhoni. he is a mix of kumble and laxman[/quote'] I expect him to just run.

[yoda]

:hysterical::hysterical: can't believe people are giving so much importance to this dumb thread opened by me.....:hysterical::hysterical:

:hysterical: /thread

[Deleted_User_1]

Why blame him when the midget choked?

[akshayxyz]

Ashwin isnt as quick as Aaron plus he had a headstart as he started running much before. The ball reached the fielder before Ashwin crossed the halfway mark. He didnt slow down to touch' date=' he slowed after it because the ball crossed him.[b'] He still should have run but that wouldnt have made any difference.

This. I know Varun had a start. I know he is faster. The fact is, for those 271 milliseconds, Ashwin slowed down _to calculate something_, which he should not have worried about. I doubt, at that very moment, whether he actually checked where the ball is (looks more like a thought in retrospect) - if he actually did, then in future, in similar situation he/anyone_else need/should not 'calculate'.. just be mad, and run for your life. It should be so mad a run, that Umpires are forced to check whether there was a short run. Unless of course, one has calculated previously that 1 run is enough for you to feel satisfied. And that looks like one possibility here. Perhaps, in the back of his mind, he was contended to have saved the match. And the evidence is - penultimate ball, that he acknowledged to have defended with the intention of ruling out the possibility of loss.

[akshayxyz]

Why blame him when the midget choked?

he is an eternal choker. tell us something new.

[akshayxyz]

Check the video again. He did run fast. I dont understand why you keep repeating whatever you wrote over and again. The ball was already going to the keeper by the time he turned for the second. Also its much more easier for the non striker to finish a run than the striker for obvious reasons. So what's the point in comparing with Aaron ?

Yes - he did run fast to the best of his abilities - to start with. And it is also a fact that he slowed down at the time of turning for 2nd. Why I am repeating is - whether you get it or not.... in a do or die situation (desperate for a particular result, lets say) - it is best not to worry about rest of the world - where the ball is, WK will fumble or not, whether it has happened before or not, whether I have one leg or two... just be brainless and take a leap of faith. But in this case, looks like he was contended that he ruled out the possibility of loss in the previous ball. BTW - did Varun stopped to check where the ball is? it is not important whether he completed 2nd run. That's all I expect Ashwin and others to learn for future.

[kirkutfan]

If Dhoni or Kohli had played the same shot.. they would have almost completed the run.

They would have and should have. One small problem- they got out. And left it to a tailender in his first test series to work it all out. And by golly, he almost did. The criticism of Ashwin is incredible. In the big scheme of things he won us the series, saved this test match and almost won it. I'd say thats pretty darn good. And Dartbhajan posting fan dudes- there is no comparison. If he was around, he would have bagged 5 wickets for 1000 runs in this series, and WI would have had their first series win. The selectors did the right thing in keeping him out. He needs to work hard to get competitive again.