Ravichandran Ashwin: “I was a tad disappointed because I have been here for the last ten years (sic: eight years)”
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin admitted that he is a “tad disappointed” not to be representing the Chennai Super Kings in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Super Kings captain MS Dhoni and former India coach Anil Kumble both stressed how important it was to regain the services of Ashwin during the auction.
However, when Ashwin’s name came up, he was ultimately sold to the Kings XI Punjab for INR 7.6 crores. The Super Kings couldn’t use a Right to Match (RTM) card on Ashwin as they retained three Indian players – Dhoni, Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja.
“I was a tad disappointed because I have been here for the last ten years (sic: eight years),” Ashwin was quoted as saying by The Hindu. “Literally, I have owned that space around Chepauk. So a bit disappointed that I will not be turning [out] for CSK. It’s a ground where I have had great memories and it has been a part of my meteoric rise so to say. It gave me momentum going into my international career as well.”
Meanwhile, Ashwin revealed that he is looking to add more deliveries into his arsenal, namely leg-spin, which he used to bowl while playing league cricket in Chennai.
“I am not looking at it as an evolution. I have been practising it for sometime. I am just trying to build my armoury,” he said. “I used to bowl good leg-breaks with my off-spin action when I was playing league cricket in Chennai. Over a period of time, in a search to get my stock ball right, I obviously had to cut out a lot of those things.
“But I don’t really settle for anything. At no point in my career, I thought ‘this is it’ and decided to settle for the rest of my career.”
When asked if adding new types of variations would affect his ability to bowl off-spin, the 31-year-old said: “I never had the fear. My career has been such that people have always told I tried a lot.
“And when I didn’t try a lot is when I have lost my place in the side. The game’s demand is such and I don’t want to feel that I didn’t try.”