Asia Cup 2016: Virat Kohli showed lot of guts, courage against Mohammed Amir, says Ravichandran Ashwin

New Delhi: Virat Kohli's courageous knock of 49 against Pakistan in the Asia Cup helped India win the much-anticipated clash with the arch-rivals.

After witnessing Kohli's approach while facing fiery Mohammed Amir, who wreaked havoc in the Indian batting line up, Team India's premier bowler Ravichandran Ashwin looked quite impressed with India's No. 3 batsman.

Ashwin said that Kohli's batting against Amir was gutsy and courageous and it gave the dressing room a lot of relief.

"We needed someone to stick his head out as Amir was going through a really good spell. We needed someone to show intent. Virat showed that intent while defending as well as attacking, which gave the dressing room a lot of comfort.

"Obviously, we knew that with a 20-30 run stand, the match will be over as it was not a huge score. From that perspective, Virat showed a lot of guts and courage and that was very encouraging," Ashwin told PTI.

Rivalry between India and Pakistan has been considered as one of the biggest in world cricket. However, Ashwin has a different take on it.

"Since I have been with the Indian team, just been another game. Right up there was the game we played in the 2011 World Cup semi-final at Mohali. Otherwise, it's been the same. I know there is a lot of hype surrounding the match and what all is written,” added Ashwin.

While talking about Team India's new fast bowling combination, comprising Jasprit Bumrah and Ashish Nehra, Ashwin said it has helped the spinners a lot.

"Ashish is experienced and had a very good IPL. He can swing the ball upfront and bowl at death. Bumrah has a unique action, bowls lethal yorkers and it gives us huge confidence to go about in the middle-overs with a lot of attacking instinct," he said.