Published: Apr 27, 2016, 02:24 PM (IST)
Edited: Apr 27, 2016, 02:29 PM (IST)
It is a sight to watch both Ravichandran Ashwin and Murugan Ashwin donning the jersey of Rising Pune Supergiants (RPS) being the talk of town in this season of IPL. While one has established himself as lead spinner for the national side, the other is taking small steps with each passing day. The off-spinner and leg-spinner might be having the same surname but are different in their own playing ways. M Ashwin was recently bid by RPS for 4.5 crores in IPL 9 auction to RPS while R Ashwin was included through the draft system in December by RPS franchise along with skipper Dhoni and Faf du Plessis. Live Cricket Scorecard:Delhi Daredevils vs Gujarat Lions, IPL 2016 Match 23 at Delhi
M Ashwin has been impressive in the tournament so far, though he was kept away in the last match against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), this time R Ashwin taking the lead. In conversation with iplt20.com, the Ashwins spoke about array of topics regarding their spin, the memories shared and the topics discussed between the two during their encounters:
The meet of Ashwin’s:
R Ashwin and M Ashwin have studied in the same college and have also played for the same teams at domestic level, that’s the memory the two Ashwin’s share with each other for which R Ashwin said, “He is a junior from my college. When I finished, he joined my college. We both come from the same college (SSN College in Chennai). That is the only connect that we share. We have never played cricket together. Apart from that we played for Tamil Nadu and this year he played under me in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. That is as far as how we go. I first saw him in 2012 when he made his debut in Cuttack.” M Ashwin added information to this, “We have never played together and this is the first year that we are playing together, as he mentioned in the Vijay Hazare tournament and the IPL. It is a good experience to play with him.”
Recognition of Junior Ashwin:
M Ashwin is grateful to the offie for recognising his talent and handing him the First-Class Cap in 2012, “I remember the day when he handed over the cap to me. Lakshmipathy Balaji was the captain for that game but Ashwin was the one who gave me my First-class cap.” A Ashwin remembered this moment and further said, “It could have been that I handed him his First-class cap in 2012. VB Chandrasekhar was the coach then and we both thought that he is a very good prospect and we made him debut on a wicket that was actually seaming around. We played two spinners and three fast bowlers. But we both thought he was a fine talent”
The Learning Curve:
Being in the same team, both the players keep learning different methods of bowling that helps to understand the other. R Ashwin mentioned, “I keep observing Murugan, the way he loads the ball and I try and ask him a few questions. Obviously we try and exchange notes but I don’t think he has asked me how to bowl an off-spin yet (laughs). He has got a good googly so I don’t think the necessity arises to ask me. I keep observing him and I want to learn from him. I have gone out bowling my leg-spin a lot and I thought I should be using it in this IPL. I don’t know when but maybe the time will come when I will use it in the IPL.” While M Ashwin gives it away the other way round saying, “He is a very experienced bowler and I have learnt a lot from him. He has given me certain ideas on how to bowl on certain wickets and what not to do. These are little things that he gives me and keeps telling me when we are bowling together.”
The MS Dhoni aura:
Both the Ashwin’s are back under skipper Dhoni after Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and their happy to be back with their skipper and M Ashwin said, “It is great to play under MS Dhoni. He is one of the most successful captains for India and he is a very calm person. He handles me really well. It is a very good experience to be playing under him.
The Tamil Bond:
Both the players are Tamilian’s and their bonding is bound to go to the next level. While speaking on this, R Ashwin said what they speak on and said, “When we are speaking amongst ourselves, there is a lot of humour around. Mostly around the breakfast table there is a lot of laughter. I feel people could feel we are rude but we are enjoying ourselves out here.” M Ashwin also said, “Since we are from the same state and we speak the same language, we discuss a lot of Tamil movies and jokes. That is something that we both discuss over the breakfast table.”
