Cricket News

From sleeping early in the IPL to analyzing the amount of turn in England, Here’s an insight into Ravichandran Ashwin’s preparation ahead of WTC final

Ravichandran Ashwin is known as a shrewd tactician in the cricketing community. The India cricketer was preparing for the World Test Championship final amidst IPL 2023. In the middle of the tournament, Ashwin introduced a slew of changes to his daily regime. He would go to bed early in a bid to get used to the sleep timings in London, which would help him be in good shape ahead of the big clash against Australia.

“The turnaround from white ball to red ball takes time, starting from sleep cycle to bowling. Everything is a habit if you follow it for a few days. So Ashwin started off by undoing the old habits where if Rajasthan didn’t have a game, he would be off to bed early,” Prasanna Agoram, the data analyst who had worked with Ashwin in 2018 at Punjab Kings said. Prasanna talked about the other changes that Ashwin implemented ahead of the WTC final.

He has been asking about the degree of turn at the Oval- Prasana on Ashwin

“He has been asking the degree of turn at the Oval this season and in the past few years on each day, because he will get a fair indication of what to expect from the batsmen. If Australia bat first and there is not much turn, they will definitely use their feet. Someone like Smith will not hesitate to come down the track and flick over mid-wicket or through covers. So when you know the degree of turn is minimum, you will avoid bowling certain deliveries and set fields accordingly,” Prasanna added.

Prasanna also said that Ashwin is studying the batters like a hawk and thinking of what shots they could play depending on the turn available at the Oval. For the big match against Australia, Ashwin is looking at the shots the Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne might play as both of them will be the lynchpins for the Australian batting lineup. Ashwin is also looking at the conditions and what best he can do as the conditions in England have always been very volatile.

“In the UK, the weather can change very quickly and it will have a bearing on the drift and stuff. On Day 1, there won’t be much turn, so Ashwin has been analysing what sort of shots the batsmen might play, ” Prasanna added. Ashwin has not only been looking at the strengths and weaknesses of the batters but also looking at what shorts might be played at various times of the WTC final.