R Ashwin, Dinesh Karthik engage in hilarious banter at Melbourne airport
The Indian team arrived in Sydney on October 25, Tuesday, for their next T20 World Cup fixture against the Netherlands which is scheduled for October 27, at the Sydney Cricket Ground. India bagged a thrilling, cut-throat win against Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday and will be all pumped up for their next.
The game against Pakistan was a rollercoaster in a literal sense. The final over of the game, while India was chasing, saw the batters running a single, taking two, threes, hitting a six, umpire giving byes, in addition to the spinner bowling a wide and a no-ball, and also picking wickets. One instance, in the final over, was Dinesh Karthik being stumped behind when he attempted to hit a wide ball.
Karthik-Ashwin’s banter in Tamil
Dinesh Karthik’s wicket added concerns to India’s chase as the new batter Ravichandran Ashwin took the strike for the final delivery with Virat Kohli being on the non-striker’s end. The tension was at the peak because Ashwin batting under such a pressure situation is a rare sight to watch, especially in the 20-over format, and that too in a World Cup game. But Ashwin’s presence of mind helped India win the game.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) shared a video of the team’s travel, where a candid conversation was captured between the Tamil Nadu players Karthik and Ashwin. Karthik, on camera, thanked Ashwin as he said – “Thank you for saving me yesterday, thank you for saving me.” Ashwin had a good laugh and hilariously replied in Tamil saying “Ethavadu karutha pesalame”, meaning “Say something meaningful”. Karthik then patted Ashwin and said “Cool and Calm” before walking off.
Speaking of the game, Pakistan set a 160-run target for India to chase. India’s second innings started awfully as openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul were dismissed cheaply, which was followed by Suryakumar Yadav’s early exit. It was then the partnership between Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya, majorly dominated by the former, which helped India secure an epic win.
