Ashwin's video on playing spin in India in middle of BGT 2023 received huge backlash.
Former India cricketers Rahul Dravid and R. Ashwin appeared in a very fun conversational video on Ashwin’s YouTube channel. In one of the segments, the ex-India head coach playfully slammed the Tamil Nadu spinner for his video on how to play spin in India in the middle of the series, which helped Australians.
Dravid spoke about the 2023 Border-Gavaskar Trophy that was played in India, when a Tamil-language video from Ashwin’s YouTube channel sparked criticism suggesting he had “coached” the Australian team on playing spin.
Following Australia's defeat in the second Test, Ashwin published the video, which described "how to play spin in India." Fans and cricket lovers criticized him for supposedly aiding Australia, even though the content was meant to be informative.
Dravid made a sneaky jab at Ashwin for "coaching the Australian team," recalling the incident from the most recent edition of "Kutti Stories with Ash." He even mentioned that he received a copy of the video.
"You even coached the Australian team. I got sent a clip. Unfortunately, it was in Tamil. So that's the one I've seen about you. You're speaking in Tamil, and with the little bit of Tamil that I understand, you're coaching the Australian team in the middle of the Australian series on how to play spin. And I'm thinking, Ash, the series is not over," Dravid joked as Ashwin couldn’t stop laughing.
Ashwin quickly clarified: “If I knew how to do that, I would have told our boys how to play spin. I mean, why would I go and tell the Aussies?”
Dravid admitted he was joking, to which Ashwin replied, “I know that you got the flak for it.” Dravid added humorously, “The flak I got was ‘Ashwin is coaching better than you are—what are you doing?’”
The intriguing discussion Ashwin had with Mitchell Starc, a fast bowler for Australia, during the third Test match in Indore was then disclosed.
"An interesting thing was that Mitchell Starc came and told me. I mean, he bowled a bumper, and I just left it in the Indore Test match. I think we were 80 for 7 or something. We went for lunch, and he was walking with me. He was like, "Can I tell you how to play the bouncer like your YouTube video?" Ashwin said.
Dravid speculated that the Aussies might have hired a Tamil-speaking person to decode the video.
"It's good to know that Starc knows Tamil. I think it was maybe the Australian guys who got some Tamil guy to sort of..." Dravid said.
However, Ashwin pointed out that the irony might have been enhanced by the video's subtitles.