R Ashwin reveals how Gabba was breached, says Indian cricket team was treated like 'caged animals in the circus'

The Indian cricket team's historic breach of the Gabba fortress in the final Test against Australia was simply magnificent. An inexperienced bowling attack that had a combined experience of seven Tests and a side that was missing so many key players beat Australia in their own backyard to seal a famous 2-1 series win and secure the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the third straight time. Ravichandran Ashwin, in conversation with India fielding coach R Sridhar, pointed out that the Indian cricket team was been treated like caged animals in a circus and the Australian cricket fans and the media used every opportunity to break the Indian cricket team down mentally.

During the Sydney Test, Australia skipper Tim Paine sledged Ravichandran Ashwin by saying, "We can't wait to see you at the Gabba." The apparent sledge was because the Indian cricket team had reservations of a hard lockdown in Queensland but the Australian media pounced on this by saying that the Indian team was scared of visiting Brisbane. Comments from the Australian shadow minister of health and the Queensland sports minister that if India did not want to abide by the rules, they were not welcome was not taken very well.

However, Ravichandran Ashwin had an epic rejoinder to the sledges of the Australian team and the press by stating an interaction in a Tamil comedy film that involved Vadivelu and Sundar C. He likened Tim Paine to Sundar C and the sledging was given a hilarious twist. However, R Ashwin stated the many factors that saw India win the Brisbane Test and it all began from the Sydney Test.

Sydney escape, the belief in Shardul and tired legs

The Sydney fourth innings, in which India batted for over 130 overs with Ravichandran Ashwin and Hanuma Vihari occupying the crease for 42 overs gave them immense belief for Brisbane. "The number of positive vibes that we had gotten from the fans for the performance in Sydney gave us immense belief for Brisbane," R Ashwin said. In response, R Sridhar said Australia had better preparation than India heading into the Test series. "The Australians played Sheffield Shield Cricket, then came into the IPL and after that they came into the ODI, T20I and Tests against us. Preparation-wise, they were much better equipped than us," Sridhar said. 

The Indian cricket team was blighted by injuries throughout the tour but Australia also made a tactical mistake in playing the same four bowlers throughout the entire Test series. R Sridhar said, "The number of injuries in the Indian cricket team was because of the lack of red-ball cricket for 12 months. There was no Ranji Trophy. Players came into the IPL directly. However, Australia also made the mistake of playing four quality bowlers in all four Tests and they were tired. Ironically, we were fresh heading into Brisbane while Australia was jaded. This is a lesson for us regarding workload management."

Ashwin had the immense belief that Shardul Thakur would do well and he proudly declared that he won a bet against Sridhar. "It is not the size of the dog but the fight of the dog. I had a bet that Shardul would bat for over 40 balls and I am glad he did it. I raised it to double or nothing with Sridhar that he would hit a fifty and I am proud to say I won the bet. I had immense ability in Washington Sundar as he could counter the short ball as I had seen him in his stints at MRF academy," Ashwin said.