We need to give some breathing space to new head coach Rahul Dravid, says Ravichandran Ashwin

India Off-spinner urged the cricket fans to give some breathing space to new head coach Rahul Dravid after the legendary batsman began his stint with a thrilling 5-wicket win against New Zealand in the T20 international in Jaipur on Wednesday. Ashwin had an impressive day with the ball as he finished with 2 for 23 in four overs and played a pivotal role in restricting the Black Caps for 164 for the loss of 6 wickets in 20 overs. India chased down the target with two balls to spare to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

Talking about Dravid’s coaching style, Ashwin said: “It’s too early for me to comment on Rahul Dravid’s coaching style, but he’s put the hard yards in through the U-19 level etc.

“He won’t leave much to chance, and he’ll be all about preparation and process, so that we can bring the happiness back into the Indian dressing room.”

The Men in Blue led by their new T20I captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and sent the Kiwis to bat first. Bhuvneshwar Kumar gave a dream start to the hosts as he dismissed Daryl Mitchell for a golden duck.

Meanwhile  Martin Guptill and number three batsman Mark Chapman made brilliant half centuries and looked like heading into a big total, but the Indian bowlers did a fine job to pull back the Kiwis.

Ashwin dismissed Chapman for 63 before sending back Glenn Phillips for a duck. And then, Bhuvneshwar took the wicket of Tim Seifert (12).

We thought we would cruise home around the 15th over: Ashwin

In reply, Rohit sharma and Suryakaumar Yadav produced sublime knocks despite losing KL Rahul for 15. Rohit fell two short of half-century while Suryakumar scored 62 off 40 balls that included four boundaries and three maximums.

Although India messed up the chase in the final four overs Rishabh Pant finished off the match with a boundary in the fourth ball of the final over from part-timer Daryl Mitchell.

“It’s tricky in T20s, you can’t miss your lengths and you don’t know when to toss it up but here it did help to give it some air. It was a slightly under-par score and we thought 170-180 would be par.

“We thought we would cruise home around the 15th over, but that’s T20 cricket for you. I bowled the first over in the powerplay, and figuring out the pace to bowl is important and it took me some time to figure that out. It’s about varying to pace and knowing when to vary it.

“It’s important to take each of the 24 balls as an event, and look at each ball in isolation and as an opporunity. You might have to play catch-up, but the batsman is trying to play catch-up and trying to play you too, so you can’t get intimidated,” Ashwin said after the match.