Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin recalled the dramatic 2011 Mumbai Test between India and West Indies, where he was run out on the last ball with only one run required for the hosts to win the match. It was the only second Test to end in a draw with scores level.
Ashwin has revealed that MS Dhoni had come to him after the match and told him that he should have taken the risk during the final over of the match.
“After the game, MS Dhoni came to me and said, ‘You could have taken a chance off the previous ball. Probably taken a single, and let Varun Aaron slog one off the last ball’. So yeah, that’s hindsight,” Ashwin told Mazher Arshad on YouTube.
Ashwin, who had scored a century in the first innings of the match, was left to bat with tailenders after Virat Kohli was dismissed on 63, with India requiring another 19 runs to win. Three overs later, Ishant Sharma, too, was dismissed as Varun Aaron joined Ashwin with India needing merely four runs to clinch victory.
“I was left with Varun Aaron at the other end, and I think it might have been two balls, two runs to get… we had two wickets in hand. I didn’t want to risk going for a big shot, and then, the next batsman coming in and getting out – we could lose the Test match, from being in a position of strength, it was not even 50-50. So I blocked that ball from Fidel Edwards, because it was swinging nicely and the chances of a No.11 getting out was pretty high,” said Ashwin.
With two runs needed on the final delivery, Ashwin was run out as he hesitated to attempt for a second run.
“I still believe it was the right decision to make,” he said. “When I hit the ball to long on, it really went quick and straight to the fielder, so the chance to run for two was not there.”
