Ravi Ashwin’s premature celebration backfires in SMAT final against Karnataka

Ravi Ashwin has quite a bit of experience for Team India at the highest level where he has seen a lot of hardships. He has come out with flying colours owing to which he is currently a stalwart, at least in their Test setup. The veteran had the task of holding his nerves on Sunday, December 1, in the final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy in Surat where he was representing Tamil Nadu.

He started the game by picking up the crucial wickets of KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal, though it couldn’t stop Karnataka from amassing 180 in their 20 overs. With the bat in hand, Ashwin came in when Tamil Nadu needed 30 runs off the last 17 balls. He had the very experienced Vijay Shankar as his partner. Ashwin started with a boundary and didn’t seem to strain to start with.

Ravi Ashwin falters in the crunch moment

But it was in the last over when the onus was on him to take Tamil Nadu over the finishing line. For Karnataka, Krishnappa Gowtham came into the attack with 13 runs needed. Ashwin didn’t lose his cool and muscled a full-length ball from the off-spinner down the ground for a boundary. In the very next delivery, Ashwin churned out another four to make his team the favourites to win.

The couple of boundaries reduced the target to five runs off the last four deliveries. Understanding that Tamil Nadu was almost home, Ashwin celebrated without realising that his side was yet to register a victory. In the next ball, he missed Gowtham’s delivery from around the wicket. The next ball saw him picking up a single and giving the strike back to the in-form Shankar.

In the penultimate ball, Shankar hit one to long on where Karnataka skipper Manish Pandey was standing. Pandey hurled in a strong throw and Shankar was caught short of his crease while completing the second run. The worst part was that Ashwin was at the non-striker’s end.

Tamil Nadu needed three runs for a win off the last ball with Murugan Ashwin on strike. But the batter could only manage a single and Karnataka won by a solitary run. In the meantime, Ravi Ashwin’s celebration before victory backfired as his team couldn’t survive the heat.

Here is the video of Ashwin’s celebration