India vs Australia 2018/19: Ravichandran Ashwin shuts down Twitter trolls
What's the story?
Even as India went down fighting to Australia in the first T20I at Brisbane, senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin got himself involved in a verbal banter with a couple of Twitter users.
The 32-year old off-spinner, who has been sidelined from India's white-ball teams, had the last laugh in this Twitter battle. When a Twitter user questioned his prowess on Australian soil, Ashwin retorted by pointing to his impressive performances in India's 3-0 T20I series victory during their previous tour down under.
In the past...
During the 2016 T20I series between hosts Australia and India, Ashwin picked four wickets at an economy-rate of 7.58. In the first match at Adelaide, the off-spinner dismissed Aaron Finch and Shane Watson.
In the second match at Melbourne as well as the third match at Sydney, Ashwin removed Shaun Marsh and played his part in clinical Indian triumphs.
The heart of the matter
In sharp contrast to the smaller boundaries in the subcontinent, Australian grounds are renowned for being expansive. Particularly, the Gabba is one of the largest venues down under. In order to cater to the needs of Australian rules football, the dimensions at the venue are 170.6 m (east-west) and 149.9 m (north-south).
Ashwin alluded to the massive boundary size at the Gabba and expressed his admiration for Australian grounds from the point of view of a bowler. However, one Twitter user took a dig at the off-spinner by insinuating that he would have been hit for sixes on those grounds as well.
Ashwin had a befitting riposte to the unsubstantiated comment. He listed all his spells in the 3-match T20I series on Australian soil in January 2016. His four wickets played a role in India winning that series 3-0.
In reply to Ashwin's riposte, another Twitter user jumped into the scene and questioned the off-spinner's abysmal Test record on Australian soil.
Stating that he does not possess all the numbers, Ashwin asked the user to search for the statistics himself before pointing to the fact it was he who could be searched on Google and not the other way round.
Although disappointed at India's loss in the first match, Ashwin chose to look forward to the next match and the prospect of an exciting T20I series.
What's next?
India will be hoping to bounce back in the second T20I at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday. Interestingly, the MCG is an even bigger ground than the Gabba.
Meanwhile, Ashwin will soon have a chance to improve his overseas record in Tests and hit back at his critics. The first Test between Australia and India is slated to begin at the Adelaide Oval on December 6.