Seasoned off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin's wife Prithi has revealed that the spin spearhead was in tremendous pain when he woke up on Monday and wasn't able to stand up going into the final day's action of the Pink Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Ashwin, who has been in scintillating form with the ball in the ongoing series, went on to show grit and fight with the bat as he batted for 128 balls and along with Hanuma Vihari denied Australia a win.
Ashwin's wife said that the Indian spinner went to bed with terrible back pain and wasn't able to even tie his shoe laces on Monday morning.
"The man went to bed last night with a terrible back tweak and in unbelievable pain. He could not stand up straight when he woke up this morning. Could not bend down to tie his shoe laces. I am amazed at what @ashwinravi99 pulled off today," Prithi tweeted.
After the heroics, Ashwin expressed gratitude and thanked his wife for being with him during the tough times. "Instant tears!! Thanks for being there with me through all this," Ashwin tweeted.
Stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane also credited Vihari and Ashwin for showing resilience and batting almost 2.5 hours on day five.
"This is as good as winning a Test match, when you come abroad and play a match like this, it was really special. Credit to Ashwin and Vihari for the way they batted, Pujara, Rohit, Pant everyone chipped into the team's cause. But credit to Vihari and Ashwin for batting 2.5 hours in the end," said Rahane while replying to an query during the virtual press conference.
Batting out 258 balls with a fierce home team throwing everything it had up its sleeves is no mean feat. But the Indian duo of Vihari and Ashwin stood ground and managed to do just that as they eked out a draw in what was nothing short of an action-packed fifth day.
With an injured Ravindra Jadeja waiting in the pavilion, it was important for the two to ensure they saw India to the end and that is just what they did as the players shook hands with an over left.
( With inputs from ANI )
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