IPL 2018 | Captaincy will give Ravichandran Ashwin extra edge, believes Subramaniam Badrinath

Ashwin has been India’s leading spinner in Test cricket for a long time now, but he has lost his place in the limited-overs side owing to poor form and the rise of wrist spinners like Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav. The Tamil Nadu lad last played a limited-overs game in West Indies in July last year and got a fresh lease of life when he was chosen to lead the Kings XI Punjab team. While there will be added pressure on the all-rounder, Badrinath feels that captaincy will give Ashwin that extra edge and can help him perform better. 

“I’ve played a lot of cricket with him. I know him as a person, as a friend. He’ll be looking to do something, he will be looking at this as a challenge. I think captaincy will give him that edge, a motivation to do something extra. You never know maybe he can lead Kings XI to a title, with an extraordinary season and his name will start coming up in the limited overs cricket,” Badrinath was quoted saying by Indian Express. 

A commentator in the upcoming IPL, Badrinath picked Chennai Super Kings and KKR as the two best franchises. 

“KKR and CSK are probably the best franchises, as far as teams go, I can vouch for that. Only time can tell what will happen going into the tournament. (But) coming back after two years will won’t be easy. But CSK have players who have been with the past. It would not be a new team altogether even though they are coming back after a break. In Ravindra Jadeja, Suresh Raina, Dwayne Bravo, the core group is the same. They will be able to gel” Badrinath revealed. 

After Dinesh Karthik's blistering innings against Bangladesh in the Nidahas Trophy final, there were calls for replacing MS Dhoni with the former, but the cricketer-turned-commentator refused to make any comparison between the duo and he feels that it is unfair to compare the two of them.

“Dhoni is a brand on his own. He’s the best wicketkeeper. I don’t think you can ever compare Dhoni and Karthik. It’s not fair. MS is a special cricketer, he’s a legend. But the innings will definitely help Karthik. He will carry that confidence. He’s been playing well for last couple of years,” the 37-year-old said.