IPL 2019 | I am among the best spinners in IPL, says Ravichandran Ashwin
IPL
Ravichandran Ashwin, the skipper of Kings XI Punjab, has stated that he is amongst the best spinners in the Indian Premier League. The off-spinner has been a part of the league since the second season in 2009 and has played for three franchises in 137 matches, scalping 124 wickets since then.
Ravichandran Ashwin has been in fine form this season as he has scalped 14 wickets in 12 games. He has led from the front and is the second highest wicket-taker for Kings XI Punjab after Mohammed Shami at the moment. The off-spinner feels that he is amongst the best tweakers of the tournament.
“Once I have become an expert and I am paid for it, I would do that job (assess other spinners). But right now, I would like to think that I am right up there and I have been for a long time now. It’s my 11th season of the IPL, so I would like to think I have done a fairly good job. I have never shied away from competing with anyone. I am right on top of the pile. But look, there are going to be people who will be better than you and you will be overtaken at some stage,” he said in an interview, reported Hindustan Times.
Ashwin had started his career in the cash-rich league with Chennai Super Kings and stayed with the franchise for seven years until 2015. He then moved to the now-defunct Rising Pune Supergiants for two years before being picked up by KXIP. In the previous season, the India bowler was economical as he gave away runs at eight per over but had only scalped ten wickets. In this season, he has bettered that tally with more wickets and an economy of 7.21. Although he was a certainty in the playing XI since 2010, he did not always get to bowl his full quota of four overs. But that has changed since he himself became the captain in 2018, as pointed out by him.
“If you look at my IPL career, it’s been a bit up and down. A fair lot of it has been due to the amount I have bowled in the last few years. I didn’t bowl (full quota of) four overs in many of those games. Whereas last year and this year, I have bowled more (after coming to KXIP). Last year, I was pretty economical but a spinner needs to keep reinventing himself. I like to do new things, learn new things and am not afraid of trying different things because T20 is one format where the bowlers need to contend with the fact that they will get hit. Getting hit is a part and parcel of the game but you should be a fierce competitor, which I am, and I really pride myself in that,” he explained.
The general perception with regard to the shortest format at the moment is that wrist spinners are a more attacking option than finger spinners. However, the Tamil Nadu player explained that the perceptions change very quickly.
“When T20 started, everybody said the spinners had no role. Then they said that the wrist-spinners do really struggle because they can’t land the ball accurately. If you ask me, right now some of the most inconsistent bowlers are the most successful ones in T20 format because landing the ball in similar spots is not fetching a lot of rewards. So, in my opinion, the wheel has gone from A to B and it will again come from B to A . It’s just a cycle, it is going to keep changing,” asserted the 32-year-old.
Punjab had started exceedingly well in the previous season with five wins in the first six games but could only manage one win in the remaining eight matches, thus failing to qualify for the playoffs. This season also seems to be on similar lines as they had won four out of first six games but have managed only one win in the next six. A win in the next two games against and the other results going their way may still enable them to qualify for playoffs. The skipper vowed to perform fearlessly in the two matches against Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings in order to give themselves any chance.
“For all franchises, you are mostly judged on your results. That’s the way of the modern world. But to get the results, you have to tick every box. It’s that stage where every two points are a massive boost for the teams and we will be looking to go all out. For us every game from now on is a knock out game,” he signed off.
