Sanjay Manjrekar heaps reward on R Ashwin forward of Border-Gavaskar Trophy: He hardly ever bowls a foul ball

Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar has heaped reward on Ravichandran Ashwin forward of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, saying he hardly ever bowls a foul ball. India are set to face Australia within the first Test of the four-match collection on February 9 on the VCA Stadium in Nagpur.

New Delhi,UPDATED: Feb 7, 2023 15:41 IST

Manjrekar says Ashwin hardly ever bowls a foul ball (PTI)

By India Today Web Desk: Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar has heaped reward on Ravichandran Ashwin forward of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, saying he hardly ever bowls a foul ball. India are set to face Australia within the first Test of the four-match collection on February 9 on the VCA Stadium in Nagpur.

Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, Manjrekar backed Australia’s method of coaching with Mahesh Pithiya, a 21-year-old spinner whose motion is much like Ashwin’s.

“To have a tactic against Ashwin, having a clone is a good preparation. But the hard work and smartness has to come in by going in and finding a way to survive, and not with a pre-conditioned approach. You just have to find a way to survive the first few minutes and I have seen it happen with some foreign batters. When they survive, they just find a way to play on such pitches,” said Manjrekar.

He said it will not be easy for the Australian to face Ashwin, adding that the accuracy with which Ashwin bowls is one of his biggest strengths.

“It will not be going to be simple dealing with Ashwin. The factor that I like about Ashwin, all of us discuss his variations and every part, however we overlook one crucial factor about Ashwin, particularly in Indian circumstances and that’s the accuracy with which he bowls,” Manjrekar added.

The former cricketer mentioned Ashwin hardly ever bowls a foul ball, including that India has a superb pace-bowling assault which might step up if the pitch doesn’t flip.

“Ashwin hardly ever bowls a foul ball. If you aren’t correct on turning pitches, it provides the batter room to play photographs. I feel Indian bowling is fairly good, even when the pitch doesn’t flip, they have high quality seamers,” mentioned Manjrekar.

The first of the four-match Test collection between India and Australia will begin from February 9 in Nagpur.

Edited By:

Rounaq Sehrawat

Published On:

Feb 7, 2023