MUMBAI: He may not be a well-known name in world cricket right now, but
Ashton Turner's name rings a bell among the Indian fans purely because of his match-winning knock of 84 not out, which came off just 43 balls, and helped Australia chase down 359 to win the fourth ODI against India at Mohali last year.
That blitzkrieg helped Australia level the series 2-2 before they would go on to clinch it after winning the final game in Delhi, a remarkable effort considering they were 2-0 down.
However, a shoulder injury, which has seen Turner undergo four surgeries, and the return of the star duo of
Steve Smith and
David Warner kept the 26-yearold out of the World Cup.
Almost a year later, Turner, who's played just three ODIs, returns to the country where he enjoyed his best hour in international cricket. "We love touring here. From my experiences here last time, I had a really enjoyable trip and had some personal success and team success. That is my only experience of ODI cricket so far. I have really fond memories of playing One-Day cricket so far in my career," Turner said, before recalling that night in Mohali when he went berserk, carting five fours and six sixes.
"To be able to come here to India, historically it has been really tough for touring teams to come here and have success. We were chasing our tails a bit, to contribute to winning that night in Mohali, I have fond memories. I take a lot of confidence out of that (knock, which came) against a world-class team and a world-class bowling attack. It's given me confidence that my ability is good enough against the best in the world," he said.
Unfortunately for him, Turner couldn't follow up that 'Mohali special' with a good show in the
IPL for the
Rajasthan Royals for whom he managed to score only three runs in four games, getting out for a duck as many as three times.
"Yeah, the IPL didn't go to plan. (There's) No secret about that. It's a blip on the radar and it's something I take some great lessons out of, but I know that to focus on that would be to sell myself short. I'm a much better player than that," said the batsman.
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