Indian allrounder Ravichandran Ashwin has been Ajinkya Rahane’s greatest asset during the ongoing Test series against Australia so far. His confidence with the ball during India’s tour Down Under has earned him some of the biggest wickets and he’s built a dangerous image in the minds of the hosts.

The fun part is that the Indian Test veteran is well aware of how good he really is and has already started to make the best use of it on Day 1 of the Sydney Test.

© Cricket Australia

In the 14th over of the first innings, Ashwin took a casual runup to the crease but stopped himself from actually delivering the ball. On pure reflex, Australian batsman Marnus Labuschagne took the defensive stanze.

Ashwin then quickly turned around and started walking backwards while an agitated Labuschagne was left raising his arms in frustration.

Despite the very limited number of fans in the stands, Ashwin’s walk-back was booed in unison.

Ashwin v Labuschagne
#AUSvIND #Ashwin#ComeOnAsh #ComeOnAsh #ComeOnAsh

— D (@darshshsh_) January 7, 2021

Labuschagne's mannerisms are fuckin' irritating and kinda disrespectful. If I would have been at Ashwin's place, I would have taken my shoe and aimed at his body. #AUSvIND

— Tanmay (@fast_hostile) January 7, 2021

Wow suddenly a contest between #Ashwin and #labuschagne. That's a beauty of test cricket #AUSvsIND #INDvsAUSTest #Cricket #cricbuzz #CricbuzzLive

— Im_mohan31 (@MohanEmpire31) January 7, 2021

#Labuschagne is a cheeky prick. It will be good for #Ashwin to get under his skin. #AUSvsIND

— Bharath Shastry (@bharathshastry) January 7, 2021

But the Indian fans know that the booing will have little to no impact on the seasoned cricketer who has gotten used to it based on the numerous occasions on which he has used unusual methods to dismiss his opponents, including mankading Englishman Jos Butler during the 2019 season of the Indian Premier League.

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