R Ashwin reveals what triggered him to widen his game after IPL 2024: ‘New avenue to explore’
R Ashwin played a match-winning knock in the final to help his team Dindigul Dragons win the TNPL 2024 title.
Veteran India all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin opened up on widening his game in terms of batting after his recent exploits with the bat in the Tamil Nadu Premier League 2024. Ashwin has established himself as an all-rounder in Test cricket, but he didn't get much opportunity to show with the bat in white-ball cricket at the international level. However, he displayed his batting prowess on a few occasions with the bat in the IPL.
Ashwin worked hard on his batting after IPL 2024 and added more shots to his arsenal to widen his game with a focus on targetting square of the wicket. The veteran all-rounder played a match-winning knock in the final to help his team Dindigul Dragons win the TNPL 2024 title. He scored 52 runs off 46 balls, which was laced with a four and three sixes.
Ashwin scored 252 runs in 10 TNPL matches this season at an impressive strike rate of 151.80. He scored three fifties, including successive ones in key matches – the Eliminator, Qualifier 2 and the final.
"Obviously, in the last IPL, I felt like I needed to widen my game and widen my horizons square of the wicket because I know I can hit the ball down the ground, and I can use my feet. Do I want to explore other options is something I had to ask myself. So if I can ask that question and if I can find an answer, it gives me a new avenue to explore and keep myself interested in the game," Ashwin said while addressing the media ahead of the TNPL 2024 final.
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Dindigul Dragons faced defending champions Lyca Kovai Kings in the final and managed to dominate them to win their maiden title. Dindigul completed a chase of 130 courtesy a solid half-century by Ashwin.
Ashwin hit a four and three sixes besides stitching a 65-run stand for the third wicket with Baba Indrajith (32 off 35 balls).
Having scored 46 runs for the loss of two wickets in the powerplay, the Dindigul middle-order relied on the composed Ashwin to get the got job done with 10 deliveries to spare. Earlier, with the ball, Ashwin finished with 0/13 for Dindigul, while Vignesh (2/15) and Chakravarthy (2/26) were the standout performers.
