Murugan Ashwin has the tools to be a good spinner - Ravichandran Ashwin

Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin spoke high of his Rising Pune Supergiants team-mate Murugan Ashwin. R Ashwin says that the leg-spinner has a good capability of becoming a good spinner. The senior pro, in a recent interview with IPLt20 along with his junior teammate, praised him for showing the courage to go old school way of spin bowling.

“He’s got all the tools, the most important thing for a spinner in the modern era is to spin the ball. Most of the spinners don’t do it in this era and I don’t blame them for it because of the format they play in,” R Ashwin told iplt20.com in an interview along with M Ashwin.

“I’m sure getting hit in this format, getting hit in this in the tournament, getting his wickets; the whole learning curve is going to be important for him so I feel it’s a great platform for him.”

The 25-year-old Murugan Ashwin was a net bowler with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) last year before he was picked by IPL debutants RPSG. R Ashwin, who is an integral part of CSK, was impressed with M Ashwin and remembered how his googly troubled the batsmen.

“At CSK he bowled to all batsmen and all of them really struggled against him,” R Ashwin said.

“They couldn’t pick his googly and couldn’t hit him out for a single six, so those are all positives to me. In fact, we wanted to pick him last year itself but somewhere or the other they left him out.”

When asked about his sharp googly, M Ashwin said it was something which has come natural to him.

“It [the googly] comes naturally to me because I am an open-chested bowler and it’s something I’ve had since childhood. I’ve never really worked on it,” he said.

He also said that having a more experienced bowler like R Ashwin in the side has helped him understand how to bowl on different pitches: “He’s given me a few ideas on how to bowl on certain wickets and what to and what not do, and that’s what helps.”

M Ashwin made his first-class debut for Tamil Nadu in 2012, and was handed his cap by R Ashwin. The leg-spinner did not get to bowl on debut in the rain-marred match, and was soon dropped.

“He had his first bowl for Tamil Nadu in the next game [after his debut] and I don’t think he went very well, after which he was dropped,” R Ashwin said of M Ashwin.

“Different people perceive bowlers differently and it’s very difficult to spot bowlers, but he looked like someone who has good revs. He spins the ball a mile – both inwards and outwards – that is a trait that is inborn and you have to look for such traits.”

R Ashwin is the spin bowling spearhead for his IPL side. However, the offie hasn’t got regular chances to bowl his full quota of overs. Skipper MS Dhoni hasn’t clarified his tactics of under-using his top bowler.

Speaking about his own role at a new franchise, Ashwin said that he still did not know what exactly his role was and that he was still finding his footing. In 11 T20s since the Asia Cup, R Ashwin has bowled his full quota of overs only five times. In the five IPL matches this season, R Ashwin has bowled four overs in three games.

“The role I’m playing at Supergiants is pretty different and it’s pretty unique. We’re still gelling into the team and I’m still finding my own feet in this team because I don’t know what role I’m exactly playing so I’m just feeling into it. It’s common when a franchise starts off new,” he said.

“I have gone out bowling my leg-spin a lot, I thought I should be using it this IPL. I don’t know…the time might come where I will use it. I keep seeing him [M Ashwin] and the way he loads and try and ask him a few questions.”

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