Published 14:13 IST, February 16th 2020
Ravichandran Ashwin unveils how he mastered the art of this mystery delivery
Veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin revealed how he ended up mastering the art of carrom ball during a recent interview with a cricket news website.
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Ravichandran Ashwin revealed how he had mastered the art of carrom ball during a recent interview with a cricket news website. The carrom ball became famous and went on to become a huge talking point when former Sri Lankan mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis had rattled India in the 2008 Asia Cup final with figures of 6/13 and then bamboozled them in the following Test series.
Ashwin on mastering the art of carrom ball
Ravichandran Ashwin said that he was batting when he had first gone to play a tennis ball game and that is when he saw a person with proper action, getting beautiful drift and getting the ball to go nicely out and in. Ashwin then mentioned that he has no clue where that person is today and he also never seen a better bowler in life who can bowl both in and out than him. However, the office did say that the bowler's name is SK and he was the one from whom the Test spinner had learned the carrom ball.
The 2011 World Cup-winner had no hesitation in admitting that he was made to look like an absolute idiot by the bowler on that particular day. This is because according to Ashwin, he was a big thing around the tennis ball circuit as a batsman then and therefore, he needed to learn from that person. The Tamil Nadu all-rounder then added that he used to go every morning and that person used to come and teach him for about 10-15 days.
What is a carrom ball?
The carrom ball which is also known as a 'Sodukku' is a delivery that is released by flicking the ball between the thumb and a bent middle finger in order to impart spin. It is bowled by the finger spinners. In this method, when a spinner releases the ball, the ball is squeezed out and flicked by the fingers like a carrom player flicking the disc on a carrom board.
14:13 IST, February 16th 2020