Having played only seven ODIs until then, India spinner R Ashwin was nervous to start proceedings during the second quarterfinal of ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 in Ahmedabad. Ashwin, who played only two matches throughout the tournament, had opened the bowling on both the occasions.
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However, the high-octane emotional hype of a knockout match against defending champions Australia had overwhelmed the right-arm bowler with nervous energy. Having said that, the Tamil Nadu player did manage to pick a crucial wicket of Australian opener Shane Watson early into the innings.
R Ashwin Once Admitted Having Shivers Before Bowling In QF Vs Australia
During an interaction with popular YouTuber Vikram Sathaye around five years ago, Ashwin revealed how he “went a little blank” during the national anthem, realizing that he was about to be part of a World Cup knockout match against a side which had won each of the previous three editions of the coveted event.
He narrated how, just after holding a new ball in his hand, he had started shivering with nervousness. In fact, on the last delivery of his third over, Watson had hit a delivery back at him to present a potential catching opportunity. However, his shivering hand inexplicably couldn’t grab the ball and it eventually went towards the boundary.
“After the national anthem, the first over was mine. I just held the ball and my hand started shivering. I was like, ‘Oh! my god. This is some new phenomenon.’ So I bowled one of those balls and [Shane] Watson hit a straight drive. The ball was right in my radar. It was in the path of my palm. It just shivered, hit my fingers and went for four. I couldn’t give an answer to anyone.”
Ashwin, during the 10th over of the innings, did manage to dismiss Watson (25) with a flighted delivery that went on to dismantle the off-stump.
As explained by Ashwin later, as long as someone like a Watson was at the crease, the par score could always take an upward curve as his aggressive approach had it in it to take the game away even in the middle-overs. Also, with Watson’s ability to hit huge sixes every now and then, it was quite imperative for India to dismiss him cheaply especially with an off-spinner in Harbhajan Singh slated to bowl later.
While Ashwin had given away 30 runs off his first six overs with the new ball, he bowled the remaining four overs post the 35-over mark. He also scalped the wicket of Australian captain Ricky Ponting (104) in his final over to finish with bowling figures of 10-0-52-2, leaking only 22 runs off his final four overs. It is worth of a mention that Ashwin had never bowled with a new ball in his ODI career before the World Cup.
R Ashwin World Cup Record
R Ashwin was not part of the Indian Playing XI for the semi-final against Pakistan in order for the team to strengthen the bowling attack by accommodating an extra pacer in Ashish Nehra on a Mohali surface which is known to assist pacers. However, come the next edition of the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, Ashwin played all the eight matches and picking 13 wickets at an average of 25.38.
Interestingly, he was not part of India’s squad for ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, and unlike the previous year’s ICC T20 World Cup in Australia, he is not expected to get a surprise call-up to the national squad for ICC Cricket World Cup 2023.
As far as his record in both the ODI World Cups (2011 and 2015) is concerned, Ashwin has dismissed 17 batters across 10 innings at an average and strike rate of 24.88 and 34.2 respectively. He has conceded runs at an economy rate of 4.36, with best bowling figures of 4/25 coming against UAE in Perth eight years ago.
