Ravichandran Ashwin is one of the members of the victorious Indian team that thumped Tim Paine-led Australia 2-1 at the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2020-21. It was a series that witnessed one of the greatest comebacks from the Indian team. Also, the zeal for defeating the Aussies among the youngsters who stepped up in the absence of senior players was commendable.
The Indian side was well short of its main resources due to injuries and other issues. Prior to the historic Brisbane Test, the likes of Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah and even Ashwin were out with injuries.
That was the moment when the inexperienced lot took the onus on their shoulders and the rest is history. Inspired by the character shown by the rookie players, the International Cricket Council (ICC) termed it the ‘Ultimate Test Series’.
The famous victory will now be televised in a 4-episode show called ‘Bandon Mein Tha Dum’. Directed by renowned director Neeraj Pandey, the show will be available on Voot from June 16.
Speaking at the trailer launch, Ashwin revealed that the feeling of that victory hasn’t sunk in yet.
“It’s been almost two years now but it hasn’t sunk in yet. It’ll be unfair to say that it will sink in because it’s a very special feeling and every time even now once in a while if I go to sleep at night I get a dream of being in Australia and playing those games. So it is an unreal feeling and unexplainable,” Ashwin was quoted by IANS as saying.
The web series sheds light on the trials and tribulations that the Indian cricket team had to navigate ahead of their unforgettable victory against Team Australia at their home ground of Gabba, where they hadn’t lost a Test match for 32 years.
Asked about the rivalry between the two sides, the veteran off-spinner praised Australia’s competitive nature, adding that the Indian side enjoys playing them despite knowing it won’t ever be easy against them.
“Absolutely, even if I’m looking back not only now right, from 2013 onwards, whenever we played Australia, they’ve been a very competitive side. They don’t turn up just like that, you know, expect things to go their way. They put in the effort and even the last series that Austin came to India in 2016-17, they went to Dubai, they were there for a month and practiced on wickets like what you get in India. And, when they came here they beat us in Pune,” he said.
“We played on a turner and they beat us by 333 runs. We got bowled out cheaply and came back into series again. In fact, if there was a documentary Australia could have made one on that. They played really well in that series. At Dharamsala as well, Virat was injured and was not playing that game. So, Australia is a fiercely competitive side and we enjoy playing them and we know it’ll never be easy against them,” he added.
(With IANS Inputs)
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