Work on batting in pre-season yielding results: Ashwin

MUMBAI: Ravichandran Ashwin said that the work done on his batting technique in the pre-season has been yielding results in IPL 2022, where Rajasthan Royals has been giving him the opportunity to bat higher up the order.

Coming in at No.3, Ashwin (50 off 38 balls) struck his maiden T20 fifty but the effort went in vain as Rajasthan lost to Delhi Capitals by eight wickets here on Wednesday. “No license has been given [to me]. It was communicated that I would be used as a batter up the order. I even opened the batting in a few practice games,” said Ashwin. “I have worked a lot on my batting, so it is nice to see it translate on the field,” added Ashwin.

While talking more about the hard yards he put in before the season, the Tamil Nadu veteran said: “I was in good batting rhythm before the start of the [IPL] season. I worked a bit on my batting; I tried to transfer my body weight forward and made a little switch in my technique. I feel pretty good about the knock, but it did not come in a winning cause.”

Following Wednesday’s result, Royals is on 14 points from 12 matches while Capitals is on 12 points from as many games. “There is always pressure in the back end of the tournament. Hopefully, we can turn it around and string a couple of wins together,” said Ashwin.

Meanwhile, Delhi’s Mitchell Marsh, who delivered a match-winning all-round performance, heaped praise on opening batter David Warner (52 not out). “I love batting with Davey. We have had a lot of great partnerships. He is someone I have looked up to for a long time. I feel very lucky to bat a lot with him in the last 18 months,” said Marsh, who smashed 89 in the chase and picked up two wickets in the first essay.