Media365
Virat Kohli‘s former teammate Ravichandran Ashwin shared an incident from the Border Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, saying that the ex-India captain’s advice to fast bowler Akash Deep backfired because he did not understand the mindset of a bowler.
The incident happened during the third Test in Gabba, with the five-match series tied at 1-1 after India won the opening Test in Perth and Australia came back to level things up by winning the pink-ball match in Adelaide.
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Smith was looking scratchy at the start of his innings and was all at sea against Akash Deep, who was in the middle of a brilliant spell.
“He (Akash Deep) was probably bowling his best, but Bumrah wasn’t. He was going through a wonderful spell of 3-4 overs,” said Ashwin, who did not play the match, during the AWS AI Conclave 2025 in Bengaluru.
“I was watching the game from outside. I saw Virat run up to him and say, ‘seedha daalo yaar, seedha daalo’ (bowl straight). Immediately, out came a fielder and went to leg gully. Aakash Deep bowled on the body and a couple of balls on the leg side, he got flicked and pulled. His rhythm went awry.”
Ashwin believes Virat didn’t understand the bowler’s psyche, which cost Akash Deep his rhythm.
“In Virat’s head, he thought that was uncomfortable for him, so if you do that against Smith, you will get him out. If you don’t understand a bowler, this is what happens. But if you understand a bowler, you know he’s going through a good spell, allow him to build on that spell,” Ashwin said.
Smith eventually got his eye in and went on to score 101, while adding 241 runs with fellow centurion Travis Head (152) and taking Australia to 445 in their first innings.
The rain-hit match eventually ended in draw, thanks to effort of taileners Bumrah and Akash Deep with the bat, who added crucial runs to save the follow-on.
After the match, Ashwin shocked the cricket world by announcing his retirement from international cricket with immediate effect.
