Ashwin, the tall and languid off-spinner, who has made many a batter dance to his tune has off late been very active on YouTube. On the cricket field, he asks questions about the batter’s technique and patience. He is relentless with the ball in his hand. If the pitch is turning, Ashwin is a nightmare even for the best of the batter. Recently in Australia, Ashwin’s contribution with the ball was invaluable. He got Smith twice for low score. It was more than just half the battle won. With the bat, he has provided handy runs from lower the order. We know about all of these. However, there is one aspect of his personality that may have involuntarily stoking the fire within the opposition ranks. Let me analyse Ashwin’s YouTube and Indian WT20 squad.
The reason Ashwin started the channel
Ashwin has more than 700K followers on his YouTube channel. Some of his videos are legendary. His interviews with lot of former and current players reveals a lot of information about that player as well as his approach to the game.
Ashwin mainly wanted to spread lot of cheer during these uncertain times. He has been doing a fabulous job with his mostly Tamil movie resembled quick bytes. Any Tamil speaker will be able to enjoy his show even better than for a non-Tamil speaker who just have to read the subtitle.
“My idea was to offer cricket fans a snapshot of how the game looks like from the coaches’ dug-out. It’s a perspective they don’t often get.
“They would often miss the context and the big picture. I thought, why not have a better engagement with them and share my experiences and emotions. “ says Ashwin
Unforgettable series
The “Kutti Story” series is on a higher level all-together. It is a series of shows based on the successful Indian tour of Australia. It was a treat from Ashwin for all the Indian fans. Anyone who has watched that video would have certainly had a great laugh eventhough she or he may not understand Tamil. His informal interaction with Sridhar & Arun was more of a laugh riot.
At the best of times, dressing room nuggets and anecdotes of the kind brought out by Ashwin would be cricket journalism gold (Ravi Shastri who uttered 249′ shabaashes’ as Ashwin and Hanuma Vihari blocked away at Sydney) or for that matter Arun talking about “tamarind” a Tamil equivalent to heebie-jeebies’. These are anecdotes that will never be known to the outside world unless a player reveals.
Ashwin must guard against disclosing too much
However, Ashwin must take care what he discloses on his shows. Even in the recent England series, there was one show in which he let out more than what is necessary. In the show titled “Kutti Story is back” Ashwin and Sridhar talks about the win at Lords. That show has already clocked close to 1M views. Ofcourse, it was enjoyable to watch. Especially for Tamilians or who can understand Tamil.
However, there were three things that Ashwin divulged which I think motivated England enough.
What was discussed?
First, Sridhar and Ashwin talks about Kohli’s intention of applauding Bumrah and Shami when they came back for lunch. It was a beautiful gesture. It was great to watch. Both Bumrah and Shami deserved every bit of that standing ovation. It was they who transformed a certain loss to a win. That too not with the ball but with their bats. It was wonderful to see the whole team appreciating their efforts. It also showed the quality of Kohli as the captain and it was nice of Ashwin to throw some light on the applause because all that the fans saw was a video. What happened behind the scene was nicely described.
Second, next they go onto talk about what Kohli said while wanting to appreciate Shamrah’s efforts. He wanted to ensure that the applause must be heard across Lords for the foreseeable future.
Third, they also went onto say that the England team were petrified and they refused to come out for lunch.
Embarrassing for England
It was number 2 and 3 that must have stirred a consternation in the England camp. For a team that was looking at a certain win in the morning is suddenly on the back foot and are staring at defeat. The mood must have been sombre. The entire English players must have been dejected because of their ineptitude and to mock them was like rubbing salt into the wound. They didn’t even have their lunch. Probably they were scared or something. It happened between 4 walls and for a visiting player to disclose such sensitive things, English players must have felt embarrassed. It is perfectly acceptable for Kohli to have said what he said but this is something that must not have been discussed, even casually between Ashwin and Sridhar. They erred.
It certainly rejuvenated England who went onto humiliate India in the very next test. In the future, I hope Ashwin will be slightly more careful in what he speaks.
Indian WT20 squad
Not much surprise in the squad chosen for the World Cup. India have all the bases covered with this squad. However, 5 spinners is one too many. Certainly, one more fast bowler would have been preferable. Especially, knowing Kumar’s frequent injuries and the workload of Bumrah and Shami. The only surprise was Ashwin’s comeback. It looks like he has been picked just to placate him for not getting an opportunity to play in any of the tests against England. Surya has improved tremendously and is a welcome addition to the squad. It was brave on the part of the selectors to have replaced Shreyas with Surya. One change I would have liked to see is Krunal in Hardik’s spot.
The WC is another 5 weeks away. Let us wait and see whether Kohli’s curse changes.