Watch: Ravichandran Ashwin opens up on woman stalker

Mumbai: With each game, Ravichandran Ashwin’s form has been on a consistent rise, peaking at the right time with his shrewd variations. The Chennai-born offie makes it a point to surprise batsmen with his guile and fight. It is no surprise then that the 29-year-old has magnified his immense fan base, including a few stalkers.

During a live chat on Indian Cricket Team’s Facebook page recently, Ashwin revealed on an interesting fan. While answering questions from fans with detailed answers, Ashwin might have never expected a question from Smriti Sinha, who the former Chennai Super Kings tweaker claims is the woman who keeps stalking him on Twitter. 

The next question is from Smriti Sinha, am not too sure if this is the girl who really stalks me on Twitter,” he said.

Smrit had asked Ashwin if he has any recent upgrades to his bowling armoury.

I can only spin the ball in and out finding the batsman’s inside edge or outside edge. I think I have the potential to do both. Upgradation need not necessarily depends of what variation or variety I possess. It also depends on what extra I can accumulate in terms of action, revolutions and a little bit of subtlety in my speed variations.

Read: Here’s why Ravichandran Ashwin will be a better captain than Virat Kohli

Watch the video below (Ashwin talks about the woman stalker, from -10:00 onwards)

The recent upgrade was the leg spin that I bowled. I have been trying that for the last two-three years. I have successfully done it on a couple of occasions but still trying to master it,” Ashwin said.

During the last T20I against Sri Lanka, Ashwin produced a bowling master class after Dhoni won the toss on a bald pitch and decided to field. Ashwin finished with 4 for 8 in four overs, the best-ever by an Indian in T20 cricket. He even broke his own record of 4-11 against Australia in the 2014 World T20 in Dhaka.

A lot of questions were thrown at him, a certain fan requesting to know about the strategy he adopts when batsmen are having a go at him.

I get a lot of kick out of planning my wickets and strategising my particular dismissal. When a batsman is taking me on, the plan is very simple. I try and make sure what is a difficult shot for him to play and try and shut him down. The best option for me in limited overs format is to try and take the batsman away from his comfort zone and make him play a shot that is erroneous,” he added.

Also Read: Ravichandran Ashwin slams fan who questioned his abilities as a premium bowler

According to Ashwin, a player has to take time to adjust to conditions, which is a challenge as most of the cricket is played in certain parts of the world.

The conditions are always going to be a challenge to adapt to because you play most of your cricket in certain parts of the world. Then when you embark on your journey, how much can you draw from your experience, you know what needs to be the process, but as much as the process in important, you need to have that particular time in that country, get into a certain rhythm, speed and the kind of revolutions you need to put on the ball,” Ashwin said, adding that he enjoys bowling to Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell.

Also Read: R Ashwin not happy with Indian television

Coming to Indian batsmen, bowling to the likes of Virat Kohli are nightmares.

When you bowl to Indian batsman, it gives you nightmares. When I bowl to some of my teammates, they just take you to the cleaners. From the first ball, there’s hardly any setting rhythm when you bowling in the nets — to the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit is okay, he starts off a little sedately and then starts to hit the ball. Pretty much most of them keep going hammers and tongs. You feel so small sometimes that you’re probably not even good enough bowling to these guys.

One batsman who I really enjoy bowling to in the nets is Cheteshwar Pujara. He generally treats it in the same way like he does in the game. Many of the others try and improve what they want to improve but Pujara puts net practice to maximum use,” Ashwin said.

India’s premiem off-spinner then shared the most craziest and naughtiest episode in his life.

I’ve done a lot of naughty things, a lot of crazy things. Once along with my friends, we were going by car to a café in Chennai. My friend accidentally cut across and hit a motorbike. We were sitting inside and as soon as he hit the bike, the bike guy started abusing him. So my friend got scared and started driving past him. So I told my friend it was very, very unethical and it was very, very rude of him to do that.

“So he ended up saying let’s ask for pardon. So he stopped the car and as soon as we brought the windows down, me and my friend started laughing out and immediately the bike guy started chasing us all the way and we had to really drive fast and get away. Just a prank in the busy schedule, that’s the most craziest thing I’ve done,” Ashwin concluded.

Also Read: Ravichandran Ashwin loses his cool, hits out at Australia's Rodney Hogg

Ashwin, who is the only bowler to have been named in the top 10 world rankings across all three formats of the sport, will next be on the pitch when India take on Bangladesh in the Asia Cup on February 24.