Most of us were surprised when Ashwin was sent ahead of Saha on day 1. But Ashwin played a brilliant knock and scored his first overseas hundred and third against West Indies equaling Sachin Tendulkar’s record of scoring most centuries against West Indies. Gosh he absolutely loves batting against the West Indies. Ashwin started his very slowly and was playing every ball to its merit, Although their was some hiccups in his innings as well he was dropped when he was on 43. But rather than that he didn’t give them any chance. Both kohli and Ashwin shared a partnership of 168 runs for the fifth wicket.
Their was no question about Ashwin talent in batting. He started his career as an opening and that reflects in his batting approach. Ashwin batting is very pleasing to the eyes. The way he finds the gaps between the fielders, The way he looks at ease against any bowling line up on any pitch is just phenomenal. He plays like a proper batsman. He doesn’t look at bay against short pitch bowling like many lower order batsman. India have certainly found a proper all rounder on which they can rely in difficult times.
After his brilliant innings of 113 he has expressed his delight and plans for the future after notching up his third century against West Indies to put India in a commanding position. Talking in the press conference the 31 year allrounder thanked Kohli and coaching for showing faith in his batting. He said “Virat called me in the morning and said you will be batting at six, ahead of Saha, was a great boost to my batting confidence. He added “Sanjay Bangar worked really closely with my stance in last 12 months. It has been a challenge. I used to be extra side-on and i had to open myself a little bit. The change is very effective. I have not driven down the ground for a very long time. So that is pretty evident one. The other things like my initial movements and other things had to be sorted. It was a process for like 10-12 months,” he said.
