Veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin reckons the long build-up to the IPL 2020 amid the Coronavirus pandemic will provide the players with a great opportunity to experiment in the tournament.
The BCCI had to shift the 13th edition of Indian Premier League to UAE because of the rising COVID-19 cases in the country. The sixty-game event, for which a detailed itinerary is yet awaited, will be played across venues in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah from September 19 to November 10.
“This is probably the longest window an IPL team gets for practicing for the tournament,” Ashwin, who will turn out for Delhi Capitals this season, said in a release issued by the franchise.
“This is actually a wonderful opportunity to top up your skills, try out new things. It’s like a laboratory to try things out in the game that you love so much.
“You can really pace yourself out, use your creativity and imagination, and settle into things as the tournament kicks off. It will be a slow and skeptical start for most teams, and that’s one of the areas where I’d like to capitalise,” he added.
Ashwin revealed that head coach Ricky Ponting has asked the players to manage their workload well.
“We’ve got a lot of energy reserve at this point and the eagerness to play the game is quite prevalent. The one thing Punter (Ponting) has made very clear to us is that we have to manage our workload well, and that’s going to be the key,” he said.
“I look forward to working with Punter. I’ve had some wonderful conversations with him over the last week or so. Shreyas is a lovely young leader who is very clear in his head, I’ve had a few chats with him too,” the 33-year-old further remarked.
“The mood in the camp is extremely exuberant. We’ve all gone through a difficult few months, and it’s great to see people in high spirits, mingling with each other despite being locked in for a week in the hotel. We were very disciplined as a group, and everyone was strict about staying in. I think that showed how much we want to go out there and play together,” he continued.
Ashwin has previously captained Kings XI Punjab and he has 125 wickets in 139 IPL matches under his belt.
Recently, Ponting called Ashwin “one of the most successful spinners in IPL history” and the off-spinner feels he has started understanding his role better.
“I feel that in the shorter format of the game, it’s harder to be a bowler and easier to be a batter. My job is to come in at 7 or 8, and you’re going to get 5-6 deliveries at the most, sometimes not even that,” he said.
“The last two years at Punjab, I started understanding these roles better. I understand my role with the bat better now, and I can contribute better than I have done in the past. Of course bowling is what I enjoy. I don’t mind going for runs, it’s a challenge I love,” he concluded.
(With PTI inputs)
