Ravichandran Ashwin emerged as the winner in the first two Tests against Steve Smith: Sachin Tendulkar

The Indian team managed to record a phenomenal win in the second Test to square the series 1-1 at Melbourne. Stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane led the team and thrashed the Aussies by eight wickets in the Boxing Test.

Besides Rahane’s heroics and the impressive debut of Shubman Gill, another talking point has been the way India’s star off-spinner Ashwin. The spinner succeeded to restrict the Australian batting legend, Steve Smith. In all the four innings, Steve Smith has just managed to accumulate ten runs at an average of 3.33.

But it was Ashwin who had Smith’s number. He dismissed the Australian batsman in two out of the three innings. In the first innings of the first Test, Ashwin picked up Smith’s wicket after he edged the ball to Rahane at slip. In the second the Australian legend was dismissed by Ashwin yet again as he was caught at leg gully by Cheteshwar Pujara in the second Test at Melbourne. India’s batting icon Sachin has claimed that Ashwin has come out as the ultimate winner between these two world-class players.

Smith and Ashwin are both world-class players: Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar further stated that both Ashwin and Smith are world-class players, but Ashwin emerged as the winner thus far. In the first two encounters, Smith has failed to perform, which has undoubtedly impacted the hosts. He is their batting talisman, and such disappointments will indeed cause concern for the Australian team. 

On the contrary, India will be expecting that they can continue to restrict Smith just like how they have done previously. And, as a matter of course, Ravichandran Ashwin is once again looking forward to having Smith’s number.

However, Sachin also exchanged his thoughts on the Australian batting unit. The legend stated that the hosts looked unsettled as the side has not gone past 200 yet in the ongoing series. The entire Australian batting line-up got out for 191, 195 and 200 respectively in all the three innings.

The teams have everything to play for in the third Test, with the series on the line. Steve Smith will dreadfully be looking to get some runs under his belt in the third Test face-off in Sydney. Under the guidance of Rahane, Team India will be optimistic when they take on the hosts on January 7, 2021.

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