Three wickets in 12 deliveries. Three batters dismissed without scoring. Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer back in the dressing room with India scorecard reading 2/3 in 2 overs in chase of 200 against five-time champions Australian their ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 opener in Chennai.
Chaos.
The advantage that bowlers had handed India by limiting Australia to a below-bar total on a challenging pitch was negated in the space of 12 deliveries and the scenes that unfolded in the middle left players in the dressing room shocked.
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Ravichandran Ashwin had gone for an ice-bath after putting in his shift with the ball under sweltering conditions at the Chepauk Stadium. He had just finished eating food when the umpires, India openers and Australian team had entered the field for the chase to begin.
In a matter of few minutes, Australian team had taken control of the chase.
“When you get older, the recovery time seems to take longer! It was so hot today. I went for an ice bath (after first innings) and by the time I ate, the umpires had already gone in. Then soon Ishan Kishan fell. Then two more!” Ashwin said on Star Sports.
And then another heart-in-mouth moment. Virat Kohli top-edged a short delivery from Josh Hazlewood. The ball went high in the Chennai night-sky and Mitchell Marsh ran in from mid-wicket for what should have been a sitter. He grassed it
“When I saw Virat Kohli’s ball go up in the air, I ran outside the dressing room. I literally ran all the way outside. I didn’t know what to do. I was like ‘just wake me up when it’s all over’. It was that sort of a feeling,” Ashwin said.
With the catch being dropped, Ashwin ran inside the dressing room and stood at the same place for the entire India chase.
“Look, I think we have found ourselves in this sort of situation in important big games. When you play Australia, it’s never a small game. You do well, shot them off for 199. You think you are going to coast home and then the last thing you want is Virat Kohli getting out like that. The moment the crowd erupted, I ran back into the dressing room. I stood in the same place for the entire innings. My feet is actually paining,” he said.
Kohli and KL Rahul battled through the nervy phase to stitch a match-winning partnership of 165 runs as India overhauled the target in 41.2 overs to start their campaign with a win.
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