Ashwin’s carrom ball to a Pakistani fan’s tease about Shahid Afridi’s iconic Asia Cup sixes against him

Ashwin’s carrom ball to a Pakistani fan’s tease about Shahid Afridi’s iconic Asia Cup sixes against him

After a Pakistan fan dealt a stinging reminder of two sixes, Ashwin replied in style. In the 2014 Asia Cup match, Shahid Afridi batted against the spinner.

Experience can teach a player a lot of things, including how to get out of bad situations and adjust to shifting game dynamics, both of which may frequently come in handy off the field. Ravichandran Ashwin has mastered the technique. On the field, he is a genius at work, tricking hitters with subtle adjustments while also adding to his arsenal of weapons as he continues to adapt to all three formats, despite being 37 years old. Off the pitch, Ashwin has mastered the art of dealing with social media issues, one of which was on show on Saturday night.

Dinesh Karthik and Ravichandran Ashwin of India and Tamil Nadu had a hilarious interaction on X (formerly known as Twitter), as the veteran wicketkeeper-batter shared a picture from their interview on Star Sports before the start of India’s World Cup warm-up game against England in Guwahati, which was eventually washed out by rain.

In response to Ashwin’s reply, a Pakistan cricket fan taunting the star India bowler gave a stinging reminder of the legendary Shahid Afridi’s two sixes against the spinner in the 2014 Asia Cup match. And Ashwin answered in style, praising Afridi for his performance.

“Shahid Afridi still remembers those two sixes,” a fan wrote.

“Those were really good shots, man,” Ashwin responded. I admired him as a fantastic ball striker.”

Afridi was at his best when India faced their arch-rivals in the 2014 Asia Cup group-stage match in Mirpur. Pakistan were nine runs behind in their pursuit of 246 at the start of the final over, needing 10 more of the last five balls and a well-set Afridi at the non-striker’s end. Ashwin sent another carrom ball at No. 10 Junaid Khan, but the batter escaped with a single, putting Afridi on strike. Afridi then hammered two consecutive sixes, one over deep extra cover and the other over long on, as Pakistan won by one wicket.