India off-spinner R Ashwin had a great day on the field on Day 1 of the second Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2022-23. The seasoned bowler took three wickets- Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, and Alex Carey. But apart from gaining attention for his exceptional bowling, Ashwin also attracted eyeballs for his notorious on-field act.
As Mohammed Shami clean bowled Nathan Lyon with a peach of a delivery, Ashwin was seen pulling the bowler’s ears when Indian players had gathered to celebrate the wicket. Shami was caught off-guard as Ashwin gave his ears a nice pinch. However, the pacer had a wide smile on his face after he turned to Ashwin.
Meanwhile, fans on Twitter were left in splits with Ashwin’s notorious act. Australian cricket team’s official Twitter handle also tried to get into the discussion about what was going on there between Ashwin and Shami. Cricket.com.au shared a picture of the moment and asked fans “What's going on here then”. The fans also chipped in with hilarious replies.
Check them out here:
Coming back to Australia’s first innings, it was a decent contest between the bat and the ball. While Indian bowlers kept striking at regular intervals, Australian batters kept them devoid of wickets in a cluster while also scoring runs. Usman Khawaja and Peter Handscomb played instrumental knocks to people Australia to 263. While Khawaja was dismissed at 81, Handscomb remained unbeaten at 72.
For India, Mohammed Shami took four wickets while the spin duo of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja took three wickets each.