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'There's difference in destructive ego and ego that allows you to be confident': Sangakkara on Buttler-Ashwin 'rivalry'
Ravichandran Ashwin and Jos Buttler's ‘rivalry’ goes back to IPL 2019, when Ashwin had ‘mankaded’ the England batter.
The mega auction ahead of the 2022 Indian Premier League saw a major change in personnel across all participating franchises. The addition of two new franchises to the tournament – Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Titans – further forced the other eight original franchises to make significant changes in the team compositions ahead of the new season. Among many key changes was the one concerning veteran India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who was bought by the Rajasthan Royals.
Ashwin had played for the Delhi Capitals in the 2020 and 2021 editions of the tournament and was bought by the RR for INR 5 crore. The off-spinner will now be sharing the dressing room with England's Jos Buttler, whom he famously ‘Mankaded’ in the 2019 season of the tournament. Ashwin and Buttler shared a heartwarming set of video messages after the former was bought by the RR, however, and the franchise's Director of Cricket opened up on the rivalry between the two on a Clubhouse conversation on ‘Red Bull Cricket’.
“In terms of Ashwin and Butter, I believe that rivalry was electric,” Sangakkara said.
"It was a part of that high-performance atmosphere at the stage that they play on. And they managed to deal with it in their own ways. I could've seen the reasons behind the MCC rule changes, it could've also been because of those kinds of moments that change perceptions.
“Jos and Ashwin are both highly intelligent and highly committed individuals with great values. To be able to talk about it in that way and come to terms with it is really important,” Sangakkara said.
Further talking about the “ego” aspect, Sangakkara said that there's difference between a “destructive” ego and the ego that allows one to be “confident.”
“We talked about egos. Everyone has egos, I do, you do. All the players do. Different things feed that ego; perceptions of others, your own perceptions about yourself, but the real thing is that there's a difference between an ego that is destructive and an ego that allows you to be confident, and to be able to relate with the players in a positive way. That's the kind of thing that we need to create,” Sangakkara said.
