T20 World Cup: Ashwin praises ‘free-spirited’ Suryakumar after Zimbabwe win

R. Ashwin, who excelled with a yield of three for 22 in India’s win over Zimbabwe, also spoke about India’s prospects in the knockouts.

Rohit Sharma, left, and Ravichandran Ashwin celebrates the wicket of Zimbabwe’s Wellington Masakadza during the T20 World Cup cricket match between India and Zimbabwe. | Photo Credit: Asanka Brendon Ratnayake

In an allegedly batter-centric format, R. Ashwin excelled with a yield of three for 22 as India defeated Zimbabwe by 71 runs in the ICC Twenty20 World Cup match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground here on Sunday. Later in the mixed-media zone, the off-spinner seemed relaxed, discarded the chair on offer and stood and spoke with candour. “It felt good (to get those wickets) and obviously it helps improve the confidence. I am not for numbers, I do the process and it felt nice,” he said.

When asked about the other star – Suryakumar Yadav, Ashwin was effusive in his praise: “He is free-spirited, he isn’t any spring-chicken even if he is relatively new to international cricket. As a bowler we always want runs to defend and he provides that. Some of the lap-sweeps he played were terrific.”

And how about returning to this venue next Sunday for the final? “Well I hope so, that would be good. We had a terrific first match (against Pakistan) here and it would be good to get a match like that again,” he replied. And as for Thursday’s semifinal against England at Adelaide, the senior bowler said that he watched the games there and has gleaned some inputs.