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'As I walked in to bat, I cursed Dinesh Karthik for a second.'
Virat Kohli struck an imperious half-century and Ravichandran Ashwin was cool at the death as India secured a four-wicket win on the final ball against Pakistan at the T20 World Cup on Sunday in front of a huge Melbourne Cricket Ground crowd.
Pakistan all-rounder Mohammad Nawaz had a final over to forget, gifting India two wides and a no-ball before Ashwin coolly blasted the winning runs over mid-off as India chased down 160 for victory.
The way Ashwin guessed that Pakistan left-arm spinner Nawaz would aim for his pads, stood still and left the ball to collect a wide under extreme pressure spoke volumes about his presence of mind.
'The moment I saw the ball going down the leg side, I decided not to have any business playing it and decided to leave it alone and got one run for the wide. As soon as I got that run, I was so relaxed,' Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
'As I walked in to bat, I cursed Dinesh Karthik for a second and then later thought, 'No no, we still have time, let us do what we were here for.' It seemed like I was walking for ages to get to the pitch,' Ashwin said.
Karthik, India's designated finisher, quite uncharacteristically attempted a slog sweep, lost his balance and was stumped when 2 runs were needed off 2 balls.
In a video BCCI posted after the match, DK is seen thanking Ashwin for 'saving his life'.
'Then I saw Virat Kohli and he told me so many things. But I thought of only one thing after seeing him. 'God has given you so much today. So how will he ever let me down? So at least for you, won't let me get these runs?' See the ball, then place it in a vacant space and just run, this is what I thought to myself,' Ashwin added.
And that is exactly what he did. Nawaz had mid-off up in the ring and Ashwin just lifted it over the fielder's head to win India the match.
'If I can lift the ball and place it somewhere, it will be good. I thought God has made this guy smash Haris Rauf over his head for a 6 on the backfoot and over the square leg for another with a flick. Won't God allow my chip over the infield in some vacant area? And thank god, it did. What a moment!' Ashwin exclaimed.
'As soon as I got that run, I was so happy. Now, no one will throw any stones at my home!'