Ravichandran Ashwin interviews Ajaz Patel: New Zealand left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel has heaped rich praises on Ravichandran Ashwin and explained what makes him different from his teammate Ravindra Jadeja. During an interview with Ashwin, Ajaz Patel, who recently took ten wickets in an innings in Mumbai, hailed the off-spinner for “breaking the batsmen” despite not bowling with the recommended sideways action in the Indian conditions. Follow more such sports news on InsideSport.IN.
Ravichandran Ashwin interviews Ajaz Patel: Kiwi spinner points out difference between India off-spinner and Ravindra Jadeja
During the course of the interview, Ajaz Patel confessed that Australia’s Nathan Lyon and Ashwin are the two bowlers he follows keenly because of their ability to set up opposition batsmen with their guile and craft.
“For me it’s always been important to bowl up and down and a lot of times people say that if you go to India you have to bowl sideways. I have watched Jaddu do his magic, just bowls sideways and tears through the teams.
“But it also nice to see you do it differently, in terms of going up and down, the control and change, and the subtlety people probably don’t take notice of but I am watching very closely – ‘Ok that’s a bit side-arm, bit more over the top, that was out from front of the hand, that was a little slower or a little quicker’ and get in your head trying to know what you are doing to break the batsman down. As a spinner that art is something that I enjoy. watching a bowler break someone down over a period of time and I guess in the modern game yourself and Nathan Lyon, both offs-spinners unfortunately, but watching the craft from you guys is something I enjoy,” Patel said on Ashwin’s YouTube talk show ‘DRS With Ash’.
Notably, both Ashwin and Lyon have taken over 400 Test wickets. The two spinners are placed on 5th and 7th spot in the list of spinners with most wickets in the red-ball format. No other active spinner has taken more than 250 wickets in the format.
Further, the 33-year-old took the names of former former cricketers Rangana Herath, Daniel Vettori and Wasim Akram when asked about the bowlers he enjoyed watching.
“Rangana watching him bowl, very similar in terms of height and stature but in terms of what he has achieved in the game, he is far ahead. Watching him bowl was a treat growing up as a spinner,” said Ajaz Patel.
“Wasim Akram, when I was younger, I used to love watching him bowl and Daniel Vettori just for his control. His (Vettori) control was phenomenal and to this day I look at him and I just think wow,” he added.
All the three aforementioned players, like Ajaz Patel, were left-arm bowlers. Sri Lanka’s ex-spinner ended his career with 434 wickets, while Pakistan pacer Wasim Akram scalped 414 wickets between 1985 and 2002. Former New Zealand captain and spinner Daniel Vettori have 362 wickets to his name in the game’s longest format.
Ravichandran Ashwin interviews Ajaz Patel: Kiwi spinner points out difference between India off-spinner and Ravindra Jadeja
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