Duleep show makes confident Ashwin aim for place in Team India

When the selectors named Tamil Nadu off-spinner R Ashwin last week in the Board Presidents XI team against South Africa....

When the selectors named Tamil Nadu off-spinner R Ashwin last week in the Board Presidents XI team against South Africa,the Chennai youngster was busy spinning a web across the Central Zone batsmen in the Duleep Trophy semi-final. With two half-centuries and six wickets in the match,Ashwin revived South Zones chances with a five-wicket haul in the second innings,and is now looking to put in a similar performance against the Proteas in the warm-up match.

That performance meant a lot to me. It was my first five-wicket haul in the Duleep Trophy and it gave me a lot of confidence. I was able to carry my form from the Ranji Trophy into the match,as the two half-centuries showed,and now I am aiming for the all-rounder slot in the Indian team, says Ashwin,who had been drafted into the Indian Twenty20 squad against Sri Lanka in December 2009.

Ashwin,who picked up 31 wickets in his debut Ranji season in 2006-2007,was one of the star performers for Tamil Nadu this year,where he picked up 15 wickets,apart from scoring a century and two half-centuries. The youngster has been coming in at number eight for his team in the Ranji Trophy and apart from his off-spin bowling,it is his batting which has come in handy.

Story continues below this ad

I spent some extra hours at the nets with my team mates at my club,India Cements,and my coach S Suresh has also helped me a lot. He has been working a lot on my batting and even Tamil Nadu coach WV Raman have always given me the freedom to play my shots, says Ashwin.

With the spotlight firmly focused on his South Zone team mate Abhimanyu Mithun in the Board Presidents game,Ashwin hopes to make the most of the opportunity. Spending time with players like Virender Sehwag,Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni was a great experience for me. I have been seeing some videos of the South Africa team and will try something new against them in the Presidents XI game. I have bowled with Piyush (Chawla) in my junior days and we are looking forward to this match, feels Ashwin.

Tags:
R Ashwin

‘Bangladeshis’ and ‘ghuspaithiyas’: BJP MP Brij Lal stops five sanitation workers on road in to quiz them on video

‘Bangladeshis’, ‘ghuspaithiyas’: On camera, BJP MP quizzes 5 sanitation workers

Cities1 hr ago

BJP MP and former UP DGP Brij Lal has sparked controversy with a video accusing five sanitation workers in Lucknow's Gomti Nagar Extension of being Bangladeshi infiltrators. Lal, a former IPS officer, claims to know how terrorism works and alleges that these workers are a threat to the nation. He appeals to CM Yogi Adityanath to deport them and claims they have fake identities.

View all shorts

Live Blog

PHOTOS