Dav Whatmore likens Ashwin to Muralitharan

“Nobody feared facing an off-spinner. But Murali put fear in the minds of the batsmen with his prodigious turn, control and the ability to spin the ball both ways. Batsmen fear facing Ashwin too in the sub-continent because of his variety, the carrom ball among them. He has enough material to really worry the batsman,” Whatmore said at the launch of a new cricket centre at the Sri Ramachandra University in Chennai.

Like Murali, he is strong in mind, and like him, he creates pressure.

Whatmore

“Like Murali, he is strong in mind, and like him, he creates pressure. Ashwin uses the angles well and can set up a batsman. Murali’s record abroad is better, he has got a lot of wickets in England, but Ashwin can improve on this,” 62-year-old Whatmore was quoted as saying by The Hindu.

Whatmore, who was also the coach of the Indian U-19 side which won the World Cup in 2008, closely watched a young Virat Kohli during his time as coach at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru.

“Kohli hits the ball along the ground, has a huge appetite for runs, and the responsibility of being the captain only spurs him on. He has the backing of every player, including Dhoni. That is what you want from a leader,” Whatmore said of the ace batsman who recently took over as India skipper in all formats.

“Kohli is right up there with the best across formats. The way he has worked on his off-side game, thought to be weak earlier, to get his feet moving and getting the line of the bat right is admirable.”

The former World Cup-winning coach labelled India as favorites in the upcoming four-match Test series against visiting Australia in February.

“It’s India, India, India. It is harder to play spin in India than in Australia. But if (David) Warner gets going, it could get interesting.”