'I Helped Tendulkar in 1998 to Negate Shane Warne': Ashwin Approaches Ex-Spinner to Sort Out Flaws in Bowling Action

Ravichandran Ashwin’s selection in India’s World Cup squad has become a topic of unending discussions and debates. The veteran off-spinner made an 11-hour entry as a replacement for Axar Patel who injured his thigh during Asia Cup last month. The team management and selectors were hopeful for a speedy recovery of the southpaw but it wasn’t case on September 28 which was the cut-off date for the participant teams to lock their playing XIs. The toss-up was between Ashwin and Washington Sundar as the think tank wanted to have an all-rounder – the reason why Yuzvendra Chahal missed out – and in the end, Ashwin bagged the spot.

As the discussion around Ashwin’s inclusion continues to persist, ex-India cricketer Laxman Sivaramakrishnan noted a flaw in the off-spinner’s blowing technique. The former India leg-spinner shared a picture in which Ashwin could be seen bowling at the NCA nets. Sivaramakrishnan pinpointed the ‘lack of synchronisation’ in the off-spinner’s upper and lower body, suggesting a quick correction.

“This picture has gone viral on SM. Enlarge the image and you notice his non-bowling arm and upper body has opened up towards the offside. If you look at his lower body is closed. This leads to lack of synchronisation. Ash quickly needs to correct this to be more effective,” Sivaramakrishnan wrote on microblogging site X.

The former cricketer further stated he would love to help Ashwin if the latter reaches out to him, just like helping Sachin Tendulkar tackle Shane Warne in 1998.

“If Ashwin reaches out to me, I can help sort it out. I helped Sachin Tendulkar in 1998 to negate Shane Warne. I have always tried to help,” he added.

Ashwin, who was in Guwahati on Saturday for the practice game against England, seemed to have noticed Sivaramakrishnan’s posts and reached out to him as the latter said so in his latest post.

“Ravi Ashwin was nice enough to call me just a while ago to discuss his bowling action, he was as shocked with the venom of the trolls as I was. Also clarified that the people involved are in NO WAY connected to him. GOOD LUCK @ashwinravi99 Do us proud,” Sivaramakrishnan wrote on Saturday.

India’s warm-up game against England would have tested Ashwin’s calibre against the defending champions but the Guwahati weather played spoilsport. The match was washed out without a ball being bowled after India opted to bat first.

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Rohit Sharma & Co will now move to Thiruvananthapuram for their second warm-up fixture against the Netherlands, scheduled to be played on Tuesday.