The veteran Indian spinner, R Ashwin has explained the influence of MS Dhoni on his career ever since he made his IPL debut for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). He said that he was driven by an intense desire to get the former captain’s attention. Ashwin got his contract with CSK, one of the most successful IPL sides, in 2008 and said the stint with CSK shaped his career.
During a chat with Harsh bhogle on Cribuzz, the premier Indian spinner said, “IPL and CSK is a stage that everyone wants. For me, it was more about recognition. MSD did not know who Ashwin is, (Matthew) Hayden and (Muttiah) Muralitharan did not know who Ashwin is. The first thing that came to my mind was that ‘I will show these people that Ashwin is here’. Nobody was giving me a chance that Ashwin will play alongside Muralitharan or ahead of Muralitharan.”
ALSO READ: CSK Team Doctor Issues Unconditional Apology For His Mistake
Ashwin said Dhoni, who led CSK, had “massive influence” on him and the only way to impress him was by troubling him in the nets.
The spinner recalled, “I got the eye of Hayden, Jacob Oram, and Stephen Fleming while bowling to them at the nets. They were finding it difficult to face me in the first year (2008) but I had not caught the eye of MSD. It was going to the nets and getting MSD…he was hitting Muralitharan out of the park and I thought, if I bowl better than him, I met to get to play ahead of Murali. I got his attention when I got him during a Challenger trophy and celebrated like a crazy kid.”
ALSO READ: Ashwin Recalls Kohli Encouraging Him Dismissing Warner
After that, the veteran spinner said during CSK’s match against Victoria Bushrangers in the now-defunct Champions League, he volunteered to bowl the Super Over and Dhoni gave him the ball without hesitation. However, he gave away as many as 23 runs in that over, but Dhoni only told him that he should have bowled the carrom ball.
Ashwin has been very successful against the left-handers as 189 of his 365 wickets are of southpaws. He credited his engineering background and advice from Duncan Fletcher for the success.
