Ashley Chandrasinghe speaks about his divisive innings in the Sheffield Shield final

Victorian prodigy Ashley Chandrasinghe has spoken about his Sheffield Shield final performance and how he plans to further develop his game.

Ashley Chandrasinghe says his scoring rate in the Sheffield Shield final was due to the challenge of regaining top form against a quality attack.

The compact left-hander saw off 280 deliveries from a fierce Western Australian bowling unit for an unbeaten 46, becoming the first player to carry their bat in a Shield final since Tasmanian Jamie Cox in 1998.

Chandrasinghe’s cautious knock polarised cricket fans across Australia before stretching abroad.

The 21-year-old admits he was initially extremely nervous before battling through one particular session.

“I was a bit nervous to begin with; opening the batting in a Shield final and facing the first ball… it’s something I have thought about a lot,” he said.

“Leading into lunch we lost two wickets, so I was sort of making sure I was holding up an end.

“In the middle session I really struggled to score which is probably a combination of pretty good bowling and myself not being in the right sort of form, so it was hard to score and get through.

“After tea Pete (Handscomb) and Benny Rohrer – the batting coach – said ‘keep going, keep fighting through and make it to the end of the day’, luckily, I was able to do that.”

Ashley Chandrasinghe of Victoria looks on while waiting to take to the field on day 2 during the Sheffield Shield Final. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

Chandrasinghe, a product out of Casey South Melbourne, confirmed while the temptation to force his way through a difficult period was there, he felt he wasn’t in the “touch” to blaze away.

“I was under pressure and wanted to release the pressure by hitting a boundary, but I felt like I wasn’t really in a position where I could smoke a cover drive or something like that,” he revealed.

“I had to grind out more singles and twos than I would’ve liked, they might’ve been going to the boundary if I was in a bit better touch.

“It was pretty hard to grind out, but I think it was made easier in the middle and last season – where it was tough for me – that I had someone at the other end scoring freely.”

His innings divided the opinions of cricket fans.

But the mature youngster steered clear of criticism from strangers and instead relished in the advice by those who were close to him.

“It was an interesting one,” he said.

“I knew it was going to be talked about, especially being a Shield final, so I did my best to stay off social media until the end of the game, because I knew there would’ve been a lot of chatter.

“It was good to have some friends and family message me throughout the week, which was good, but I stayed off social media.

“I tried to live off what Buck and Pete were telling me, which was all positive, so that’s all I needed to hear.

“They pretty much said that I had kept us in the game and that if I had got out, we wouldn’t have been able to bat a day and post 190, we would’ve scored a lot less.

“They just said that it’s a good quality to have, being able to bat a whole day at a place like the WACA against WA.”

Chandrasinghe pushes a ball into the off side. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

While Chandrasinghe is spending a period of the off-season in India, he will also be under the wing of Victorian coach, and fellow gritty left-hander, Chris Rogers over the winter.

“I have to keep working on my game and there’s a few technical things me and Buck are going to work on over the off-season,” he said.

“That’s pretty encouraging for me, to see if I can make some adjustments to make scoring a bit easier while at the same time keeping my defensive capabilities intact.”