The win in the 2011 World Cup holds utmost importance in the lives of several Indian cricketers who brought laurels to their country.
This time around, it is India’s Test specialist Ravichandran Ashwin who has opened up on his tale of inspirational advice he received from ‘Master Blaster’ Sachin Tendulkar during the campaign.
Ashwin, who was relatively new to international cricket back then, played behind the shadows of Harbhajan Singh, who was the first-choice off-spinner.
The MS Dhoni-led Indian side, went ahead with the extra seamer throughout the entirety of the tournament, with part-timers chipping in.
As a result, Ashwin got his chance to feature in the playing XI, only when India played on rank-turners at Chennai and Ahmedabad, against West Indies and Australia, respectively.
During a recent conversation with India’s Women’s team Head Coach WV Raman, Ashwin revealed about the auspicious inspirational advice he received from Sachin while bowling in the nets.
According to Ashwin, Sachin came up to him and told him how to bowl, if and when he gets a game. The Tamil Nadu ace spinner bowled brilliantly during the quarter-final fixture against Australian by scalping the prized wicket of Shane Watson upfront.
Since then, he had been a prominent member in the Indian ODI side during several subsequent ICC tournaments.
The offie was part of India’s successful campaign in the 2013 Champions Trophy. Also, he was a regular feature in the T20 World Cups of 2012, 2014, 2016.
His inability to take wickets in the middle overs led to him facing the axe since the 2017 Champions Trophy final against Pakistan.
However, Ashwin remains the first-choice spinner for India during Test matches at home. After captaining the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) for two seasons, he was released before the auctions for the 2020 edition of IPL.
Ashwin was slated to join the Delhi Capitals for the thirteenth edition of IPL before COVID-19 pandemic led to the suspension of the tournament indefinitely.
