In the upcoming edition of Indian Premier League (IPL), Ravichandran Ashwin is all set to lead the team for the first time in his career.
Ashwin was roped in by Kings XI Punjab co-owner Preity Zinta during the mega-auction held in January and was recently appointed as the captain of the side.
However, one man who is most excited to play along with Ashwin is none other than the Gujarat da Munda, KXIP’s only retained player, Axar Patel.
While speaking to Kings XI Punjab official website, kxip.in, the left-arm all-rounder said that this IPL season he will have the experienced Ashwin to share the dressing room with and he will no doubt use this opportunity to learn as much as he can from the wily spin giant.
“I know Ashwin since I made my debut for India,” said Axar while speaking exclusively to kxip.in. “I think this familiarity I have with him is a huge advantage.” “I know Ashwin since I made my debut for India. I think this familiarity I have with him is a huge advantage”, said Axar.
As we all know, spinners like nothing better than to hunt in pairs and tighten the screws on the opponents from both ends till they are forced to do something out of the ordinary. With this in mind, Axar feels that he had found the perfect partner to bowl with this season.
“I know that Ashwin is an attacking bowler,” Axar pointed out. “His role is to pick wickets, and my role is generally to contain the flow of runs and build pressure from one end. So, it will make for a good partnership. We have done that for India too in the past, and will look to continue the same for KXIP in the coming season.”
While Axar has played under several captains in the past, he admitted that the experienced Ashwin will bring something new to the table when it comes to captaincy.
“Ashwin is really experienced and I am glad that he has now become the captain. I think if a bowler is the captain it is a much better option because a bowler knows what the batsman is thinking and can make changes according to the situation the game is in,” he added.
