India’s ace off-spinner in Tests, Ravichandran Ashwin, in a recent interview, opened up about who taught him the ‘drifters’. Ashwin specializes in bowling them with the new-ball. The ball, usually bowled full, tends to drift in the air, as well as move, both in and out, after pitching.
The Tamil Nadu-cricketer recalled his gully cricket days in Chennai in his interview with Cricbuzz and credited the art of learning the trick to a fellow cricketer from the circuit.
“The first time I went to play in a tennis-ball game. I was batting. This guy was bowling proper action, beautiful drift, getting the ball to go nicely both out and in,” Ashwin stated in the show named Spicy Pitch.
While detailing the story, Ashwin mentioned him being a batsman predominantly during his tennis-ball cricket days.
“Till today, I can’t find the guy. I’ve never seen a better bowler than him. His name was SK. He was the one from whom I learned the ball. He basically made me look like an absolute idiot that day,” added Ashwin.
Later, the Indian Test specialist went on to share that it was ‘SK’ who taught him to bowl the drifters, which he later utilized even in international cricket.
“I was a big thing in the tennis ball circuit as a batsman then. So I said, I need to learn from this guy. For 10-15 days, I used to go in the morning; he used to teach me how to bowl them,” concluded Ashwin.
Ashwin is currently part of India’s New Zealand ventures in the whites. Shortly after, Ashwin will be seen donning the colors of Delhi Capitals’ in the forthcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
