Watching past footage helped me look at myself differently: Ashwin

By Khurram Habib

Ahmedabad, Feb 26 (SocialNews.XYZ) India off-spinner R Ashwin, who picked his 400th Test wicket in the third Test to become only the fourth Indian to reach the milestone after Kapil Dev, Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, has said that watching past cricket matches' footage during the Covid-19 lockdown has helped him develop better understanding and made his planning more thorough and effective.

"The planning for me goes to a different level. In Australia, I watched eight hours of straight footage ahead of the Adelaide Test. I didn't know why I started doing it but I didn't want to leave any stone unturned. I used to watch a lot of footage before too. But the understanding of the game has gone one notch higher. What happened during the lockdown was that I was watching a lot of cricket from the past, especially Sachin's hundred at Chepauk [against Pakistan in 1999]," said Ashwin here while doing an interview for bcci.tv

"I started picking fine cues...and thought why haven't I figured these things out. After that I started to watch footage differently, because I am able to pick batsmen on what they are doing. Even before I bowl the ball I understand what shot they are playing. It is that sort of a phase right now that I am watching so much of footage also and being able to implement."

The off-spinner whose bowling average towers over the other three India bowlers to have reached the milestone said he wasn't aware of the milestone till it was flashed on the screen and the crowd started clapping and cheering.

"It was quite empty [that moment] because we were under immense pressure to be honest...For me, I was in the moment. It was only after the DRS that I realised that the 400 has happened. When the scorecard flashed and people stood up and started clapping I realised I reached 400. The last three months have been great."

Source: IANS