Veteran Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has praised his former teammate and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni for giving him the new ball in the 2011 IPL final. The 24-year-old Ashwin was a rookie and hadn’t even made his India debut when Dhoni handed him the ball against the hard-hitting Chris Gayle in the IPL final.
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Ashwin came to bowl in the first over of the match against the duo of Chris Gayle and Mayank Agarwal after CSK had already posted a mammoth total of 206 runs. Gayle, however, was such a hard-hitting batsman that he could make any total look small and had already scored 608 runs in the season so far. However, newcomer Ashwin got the better of Gayle in the 4th ball of his over and then promptly dismissed Mayank Agarwal in his second over to help his side secure a 58-run total.
Later in the year, Ashwin made his debut for India and quickly became a mainstay of the side in all three formats. Such is the off-spinner’s prowess that he is currently India’s second-highest wicket-taker, behind only the legendary Anil Kumble. Notably, Ashwin recently passed the milestone of 500 wickets during the India-England Test series.
Ashwin pays tribute to MS Dhoni:
Ravichandran Ashwin was recently felicitated by the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association for reaching the milestone of 500 Test wickets. During the felicitation ceremony, Ashwin recalled how Dhoni had reposed faith in him during the 2011 IPL season.
He said, “In 2008, I met all the greats (in the CSK dressing room), including Matthew Hayden and MS Dhoni. But I sat through (IPL) 2008. I was nobody then. I did not see myself playing in a team that had Muttiah Muralitharan back in the day,”
“I wish to thank him (skipper Dhoni) from the bottom of my heart. I will forever be indebted to him for what he gave me. He gave me an opportunity with the new ball to go head-on with Chris Gayle and years later, Anil bhai (Anil Kumble) would be talking about that particular episode,” Ashwin added.
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Published: 17 Mar 2024, 12:22 PM IST