Indian off-spinner, Ravichandran Ashwin, made his first-class debut for Tamil Nadu in 2006, and at that time, former Indian cricketer WV Raman was the coach of the state.

Ahead of the second and final Test against Sri Lanka in Bengaluru from March 12, Ashwin recalled his first experience of being trained under Raman. The premier spinner has described the former coach as a “hard taskmaster”, as he recalled his beginnings for Tamil Nadu under Raman.

In an interview with the BCCI, Ashwin stated: “When I made my debut, I had walked into the Chepauk stadium and Raman was the coach. (He was) a hard taskmaster and a lot of people feared having conversations with him. So, we were going through this practice session one day and he was giving these fielding sessions. But the amount of pressure he used to inflict on people who were throwing the ball on the top of the stumps was incredible.”

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He added, “If you didn't throw the ball at the top of the stumps, he would just have a go at you. This kept happening for 10 days, 12 days, 2 weeks, 3 weeks, and we got a little comfortable. He used to prod me at the net, I used to question him and I didn't really have fear speaking in the team meeting.”

The veteran off-spinner also revealed how Raman made him more acknowledging towards feedback and suggestions during his days at Tamil Nadu. He added, “One day, he just took me to the side and said, 'Ashwin, you've just come into the side. I appreciate you speaking in the team meetings, but you also need to understand why we say certain things. We say it with the intent to make sure that once you go to the Indian team, you are not found wanting with your basics'.”

Ashwin concluded, “And that really opened the floodgates for me and Raman forever. Because I knew this man had the best intent in place for anybody who walked into the ground inside this team.”