Senior Indian bowler Ravichandran Ashwin Is currently in Southampton with other Indian players, preparing for the upcoming ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final against New Zealand, starting June 18.
Ashwin has a great opportunity to become the leading wicket-taker in WTC. He is third on the list with 67 scalps to his name only behind Pat Cummins and Stuart Broad, who have taken 70 and 69 wickets, respectively.
Since England and Australia have not qualified for the WTC final, it gives Ashwin a golden opportunity to leapfrog both the speedsters to become the number 1 bowler in terms of wickets tally in WTC 2019-21.
Ashwin will be hoping to have a great run in the WTC final, especially considering the fact that New Zealand have quite a few left-handed batters in the team, and the Tamil Nadu spinner has a remarkable record against the lefties.
The 34-year-old is the only bowler In the history of Test cricket to dismiss left-handers more than 200 times. But what exactly is the reason behind Ashwin’s brilliant record against left-handed batsmen? Well, the Chennai-lad himself explained it in an exclusive interview with Sportstar.
Ashwin said that he challenges both sides of the edge and get the attacking field to set up a batsman. The veteran offie further revealed that his act of coming round the wicket also makes survival difficult for batters.
“I would like to think that it is because I challenge both sides of the edge. I get a batsman out through the inside edge and the outside and get the slip, short leg and silly point in the play. I think that is one of the reasons the left-handers find it difficult. Also, I change the angle; I go over the wicket and to the extremes for around the stumps also. So challenging both sides of the bat gives me the edge,” revealed Ashwin.
Speaking about the summit clash against the Kiwis, Ashwin expressed that the Kane Williamson-led side is fantastic and consist of exciting cricketers. He explained that New Zealand’s series against England, which the tourists won by 1-0, will come in handy for them concerning the apt preparation of the WTC final.
“We have played well to get to the World Test Championship final, and we are deservedly there. They are a fantastic team and have a lot of exciting cricketers. The fact that they would have played a couple of Test matches before the final will be good preparation for them. So we have to adapt, use our experience, and be ready,” Ashwin added.
