IND vs SL: The More Formidable A Player, The More Ravichandran Ashwin Likes The Challenge - Irfan Pathan

Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan lavished praise on the mentality of Indian all-rounder, Ravichandran Ashwin, claiming that he loves a challenge and the tougher it is, the more satisfaction he gains from it.

The Sri Lankan team that got demolished 0-2 may not have been a tough task for Ashwin, but he certainly would have enjoyed the final day’s play of the Bengaluru Test, where the Lankan batters resisted quite well.

Although the result was a foregone conclusion, Dimuth Karunaratne and co. ensured that they at least put up a fight and didn’t fold like in the first Test.

“He loves the challenge as well. The more formidable a player, he likes a challenge even more. The way Ashwin’s mind works, I feel if he gets an easy thing, he will want to make it more difficult because he wants to find an answer for everything.”

“I feel if Sri Lanka batted well at any time throughout the entire series, it was on the last day of the tour. So he got wickets with difficulties but Ravichandran Ashwin would definitely have got satisfaction from that,” Irfan told in a conversation with Star Sports.

“You need to have a lot of skillsets and Ravichandran Ashwin executes them brilliantly” – Aakash Chopra

Ashwin is extremely wily and his skill set isn’t down to the stock ball. He has the carrom ball in his armoury which he deployed in the first innings of the Bengaluru Test quite effectively. This sets him apart from other regular off-spinners as well.

“100 percent, it was still a little challenging here because Dimuth Karunaratne stood there for a long time. Kusal Mendis also attacked a little at the start but there were a lot of aspects, his experience, and skills, plus if you bowl even a straight ball on this pitch, you get a wicket.”

“We saw more wickets falling of straighter deliveries and less on turning balls, he got a wicket with the carrom ball in the first innings. The class is there, you don’t get 440 wickets just like that, you need to have a lot of skillsets and he executes them brilliantly,” Chopra also stated.

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