Sachin Tendulkar helped me read every variation of Ravi Ashwin on debut, recalls Richard Levi

By no means were things easy, as Levi faced an uphill task of negating the league’s best spinner, Ravichandran Ashwin, on a track that turned square, but the South African opener revealed how Sachin helped him read every minute variation of Ashwin, thus allowing him to play freely and chip away with the runs. Eventually, Levi ended up scoring a fifty in the match, helping his side to a comfortable eight-wicket win.

"Tendulkar had told me every variation of what Ashwin would bowl in that over (his first over against Ashwin. Sachin came over and said, 'He's going to bowl the overspinner now'. He did, and I hit it for two. Then he said, 'He's going to try and get you out now'. So I was prepared, and I hit it for six," Levi told Cricbuzz.

However, him scoring a total of just 33 runs in the succeeding 5 innings meant that he was dropped by the franchise and was never picked in the side again. The opener, who has since prominently featured in the T20 Blast in England, enrolled himself in multiple IPL auctions, but unfortunately, had no takers on any occasion. Reflecting on his IPL stint, Levi described it as ‘unfinished business’ and admitted that he would love to play in the IPL again someday.