R Ashwin is believed to have one of the sharpest cricket brains in the world. The spinner, who represented Delhi Capitals at IPL 2020, revealed how he has always enjoyed bowling against two of India’s best cricket batsmen, Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni. The IPL makes for some weird and fascinating contests as it allows the national teammates to play against each other.
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Ashwin recalled his experience of bowling with Kohli, revealing that for the Royal Challengers Bangalore captain, not giving up his window behind the wheel is a “matter of pride”.
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“I have always liked bowling with Virat. He would never risk against me. He would not give his window; for him it was a matter of pride. MS Dhoni is like that too. In Pune, 2016, I set it up with a ball from the outside to the outside and it was very high and just when I was thinking, ‘Aaha, kohli wicket’, Ankit Sharma let the ball slip out of his hands in the extra coverage! Ai! What have you done! “Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
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2016 was the season that Kohli had a superlative IPL season, hitting 973 races, including four centuries, and played a crucial role in RCB’s journey to the final. Those are the most runs done by an individual player in a single IPL season.
During the 2020 IPL, when the Capitals met RCB for the second time, Ashwin picked up the Kohli wicket. It was the 55th game of the season, the penultimate game of the league stage, and although the Capitals were victorious by six wickets, both teams advanced to the Playoffs. Kohli finished the 2020 IPL with 466 runs, the second highest run for RCB, behind young Devdutt Padikkal.
Ashwin didn’t have a bad season either. Having played for Kings XI Punjab last year, Ashwin was traded to DC. The off-spinner played 15 games and collected 13 wickets with an average of 12.33. He worked primarily on bowling within the Powerplay and most of the time provided his team with the first advancements.
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