Ravi Ashwin wishes he would've been part of 'one of the greatest' 2001 Kolkata Test

Indian cricket was in turmoil at the start of the 2000s decades. The match-fixing scandal had hit the nation and the team was filled with the youngsters and was led by Sourav Ganguly. Some spark was needed from the team to bring the sport back to top in the country. And it came through Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman at the Eden Gardens.

Team India was forced to follow-on in the second Test of the three-match series against Australia and were 0-1 down already. But a marathon partnership between Dravid and Laxman led the hosts’ comeback in the match and on the back of exceptional bowling on the final day, India went on to win the game and level the series.

It is still termed one of the best wins in the history of the cricket, let alone India. And this is when the rise of the Indian cricket began and the team is now dominating across all formats 19 years down the line. Ravi Ashwin, on Saturday, conducted a Q&A session for his fans where he came across a question and the off-spinner recalled the historic Test.

One of the greatest Test matches, says Ravi Ashwin

Shikha Pandey, India’s pace bowler, during the session, asked Ravi Ashwin to pick one Test match from the past he would’ve loved to be part of. And like many youngsters then who were inspired to take up the sport, the 33-year-old had no hesitation in stating that he would want to be part of the historic Test match in Kolkata in 2001. He also termed the Test match as one of the greatest ever.

Here’s his tweet:

Ravi Ashwin has been active on social media and on Saturday, also gave a befitting reply to a fan who tried to troll him over his mankading act last year in the IPL. Recently, Glenn McGrath mentioned that he wouldn’t mankaded the batsman even if the opposition needed two runs to win in the World Cup final and the fan tried to seek Ashwin’s attention over the same.

To this, the offie responded stating, “Dear sir, Glen McGrath is one of the greatest bowlers to have played the game and I greatly respect his answer for the question but to tell me that it’s the only right answer is wrong on your part.”