'I cursed Dinesh Karthik when I walked in to bat' vs Pakistan: Ashwin

Who were the heroes of India's last-ball victory against Pakistan in Melbourne on Sunday? Virat Kohli, of course! His unbeaten 82 off 53 balls is widely being hailed as his best-ever T20I knock. Hardik Pandya with both bat and ball. He picked up three crucial wickets and then made an invaluable contribution of 40 with the bat. How can we forget Arshdeep Singh? It was his burst with the new ball that really pushed Pakistan on the backfoot after India opted to bowl first. He dismissed Pakistan's two best T20 batters Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan in the powerplay. Is that it? Was there any other noteworthy contribution? Think hard... Yes, Ravichandran Ashwin!

His bowling figures were 3 overs none for 23 but it was his contribution with the bat that helped India win. But wait, doesn't the scorecard say he scored an unbeaten 1 off 1 ball, how is that a match-winning contribution? It is when you walk out to bat with your team needing 2 runs off 1 ball.

The way Ashwin guessed that Pakistan left-arm spinner Mohammad 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.

The veteran off-spinner also revealed that he had cursed Dinesh Karthik for getting out in that situation, leaving him with the hard task of scoring 2 runs off the last ball. “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.

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Karthik, India's desingated finisher, quite uncharactaristically attempeted a slog-sweep, lost his balance and got stumped when 2 runs were needed off 2 balls. In a video uploaded by BCCI after the match, the India keeper was seen thanking Ashwin for 'saving his life'.

Ashwin explained the conversation between him and Kohli out in the middle.

"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," he 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. As many described, it was perhaps one of the most crucial 1-run innings in the history of Indian cricket.

"As soon as I got that run, I was so happy. Now, no one will throw any stones at my home! (Laughs) 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," he said.

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