I Had To Impress MS Dhoni To Get His Attention, He Did Not Know Who I Was: Ravichandran Ashwin
Published - 16 Jun 2020, 04:33 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:30 AM
Ravichandran Ashwin’s journey to the Indian national team primarily stemmed from the Indian Premier League (IPL) like few others. The prolific off-spinner was part of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) during the initial years and was quite integral to their success. MS Dhoni, the skipper, famously used to begin the innings by throwing the ball to Ravichandran Ashwin, especially to get rid of Chris Gayle.
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Meanwhile, in a chat with Cricbuzz with Harsha Bhogle, Ashiwn reminisced the time when he was an unknown prospect to MS Dhoni and had to do something extraordinary to get his attention. It was in the 2011 edition that the 33-year old shone. Ashwin picked up 20 scalps in 16 games at an average of 19.40 as the yellow army lifted their second consecutive IPL title.
Ravichandran Ashwin stated that MS Dhoni hardly knew who he was. Hence, if he caught the attention of MS Dhoni, he stood the best chance. Having made his international debut in 2010, the finger spinner has become India’s first-choice spinner in their Test team. He has 365 wickets in 71 Tests. Alongside Nathan Lyon, Ashwin is one of the best spin-bowlers going around in the longest version.
“MS Dhoni did not know who Ashwin was. I had to catch the eye of MS Dhoni. So if I had caught the eyes of MS Dhoni, I had the best chance,” Ashwin said.
The trade was more initiated rather my doing: Ravichandran Ashwin
Earlier, when asked about Ashwin shifting his base to the Delhi Capitals from Kings XI Punjab for the 2020 season, he explained it by saying that it was mainly his failure to take the team to the playoffs as captain. Hence, the 33-year old refuses to give excuses for that accepts his shortcomings.
“There are other factors, the owners did feel I haven’t delivered which is true because I could not take the team through to the play-offs in both the seasons. You can give excuses why we could not do that, but I am someone who takes it under my chin and admits that ‘yes I couldn’t deliver.’ The trade was more initiated rather my doing.”
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