MUMBAI: It was the sort of moment which makes us fall in love with the sport of bat and ball all over again. Ravichandran Ashwin, having endured a lean run and ceded the spotlight to younger off-spin colleague Washington Sundar in Pune, won hearts as he pulled off the best catch of his life here on Saturday.
Running sideways for almost 19 metres from mid-on after Daryl Mitchell tonked a spinning delivery from Ravindra Jadeja, Ashwin, all of 38, launched himself into a dive to take a blinder. The catch ended a 50-run fourth partnership in 83 balls between Mitchell and Will Young (51; 100b, 2x4, 1x6) and turned things back India's way. The way he let off a scream and threw the ball in the air, and the way his teammates hugged him after that brilliant catch, was testament to what Ashwin means to this side.
