Ashwin has always had leadership qualities: Badrinath

“I feel it is a move forward for KXIP considering that Ashwin has always had leadership qualities. He is at that stage of his career where he is looking to take up new challenges. It is one possible way where he could make a case for himself in the limited overs format,” opined Badrinath in an exclusive chat with DT Next.

The off-spinner was snapped up by the 2014 finalist in the IPL auction for Rs 7.6 cr. Despite boasting of experienced campaigners like Yuvraj Singh, David Miller and Aaron Finch, the KXIP management decided to hand over the baton to the Tamil Nadu lad. “Once Ashwin was bought by KXIP, I was 90 percent sure that he would be named the skipper. He can be a little bit unorthodox with his ideas. It is a good move for both the parties,” added the former Tamil Nadu player. 

Badrinath had said that IPL 9 title-winner SRH and Delhi Daredevils look the most balanced among the eight participating franchises. “These two teams seem to have a good Indian base along with good overseas signings. You must have seven good Indian players irrespective of the quality of the four foreigners who are part of the playing XI. That is what makes a franchise successful. But at the end of the day, it all comes down to execution and not how strong you are on paper,” he asserted. 

“It is important for every franchise to have the right mix of Indian and foreign players. The blend of youth and experience also plays a pivotal part in shaping the squad,” added the local lad. 

Commenting on the possibility of South African Faf du Plessis and veteran Shane Watson opening the batting for CSK, Badrinath commented, “It all boils down to where they are playing — home or away. They might as well look to play an extra spinner at home, which could even be a foreigner with Imran Tahir and Mitchell Santner in the ranks. It all depends on the permutations and the combinations that the team looks at. There might be stages where Faf and Watson might not play together but I definitely see both starting for CSK in its first match.” 

On the young players from Tamil Nadu such as Washington Sundar, Murugan Ashwin and Vijay Shankar getting into the IPL fold for decent amounts, Badrinath, who led Karaikudi Kaalai in the Tamil Nadu Premier League, said, “The TNPL is a kind of a reduced version of the IPL. The players get a taste of the media hype, television coverage, playing under the lights, through these domestic competitions. We certainly can’t expect the TNPL to match the IPL in terms of cricketing standards but it does present an opportunity for budding players to perform under considerable amount of pressure.”