After smashing 84 off 43 balls and leading Australia to victory in the fourth ODI against India, middle-order batsman Ashton Turner admitted that until the last moment, he wasn’t even sure he was going to be playing.
Turner was over the moon with his sensational effort in only his second One Day International.
“I’m lost for words. I turned up to the ground today. Marcus Stoinis was doing his fitness test. He had a broken thumb, I thought he would play today and I would be carrying drinks. But I had to transition my mind from not playing to playing.
"I was ready to go if given a chance. It's not every day that we get to play. Batting is lot of fun, there were a few close calls and I know that I didn't nick that one that went upstairs," said 26-year-old Turner.
Before Turner came in, Peter Handscomb added 117 off 105 balls, while Usman Khawaja made 91 runs as Australia made surprisingly easy work of an imposing 359-run target in Mohali on Sunday, 10 March.
Handscomb and Khawaja put on 192 runs for the third wicket after Australia had been reduced to 12-2 and Turner applied the finishing touch to lead Australia to 359-6 in 47.5 overs.
He also attributed his success to former Australia opener Matthew Hayden, who is is commentating in the ongoing series.
"Haydos has been great to me. I was privileged to get my cap from him in Hyderabad. He's spent a lot of time with me in the nets. He's a brilliant player of spin bowling and he's a legend. Someone I always looked up to. It's nice to hear nice things from him," added Turner.