Former Indian coach Rahul Dravid recently shared an interesting anecdote related to Ravichandran Ashwin. Dravid said that Ashwin had posted a video on his YouTube channel during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023, in which he taught Australia how to play spin. Everyone was surprised to hear this, because that series was still going on and India was leading 2-0 at that time.
Dravid said that Ashwin had posted a video on his channel at that time, in which he explained in detail why foreign batsmen were not able to read Indian spin properly. This video was in the Tamil language, but Dravid felt that the basis of a little understanding was that Ashwin gave important suggestions to Australia at that time. This surprised everyone, because such advice could directly help the opposition team.
Dravid said, “You even coached the Australian team. Unfortunately, it (the video) was in Tamil. So that’s the one I have seen about you. You speaking in Tamil, and with the little bit of Tamil that I understand, you were coaching the Australian team in the middle of the series on how to play spin! And I am seeing that and thinking, ‘Ash, the series is not over.'”
Interestingly, shortly after this video, Australia defeated India in the Indore Test. In that match, the Indian batsmen themselves got caught in the web of spin. The entire team was bowled out for 109 in the first innings and could only score 163 runs in the second innings. Nathan Lyon turned the tables of the match by taking eight wickets in the second innings. This defeat raised the question of whether Ashwin's suggestions strengthened Australia in some way.
When Dravid teased Ashwin on this issue, he jokingly said that if he knew how to teach the way to play spin in the true sense, he would have first told his players. He said in a light-hearted tone that there was no question of advising Australia. Hearing this, Dravid laughed and said that people told him the opposite, that Ashwin was coaching better.
Ashwin said: “If I knew how to teach playing spin, I would have told our boys. Why would I go and tell the Aussies? You (Dravid) got the flak for it.”
“The only flak that I got was hearing about how Ashwin is coaching better than I. What are you doing? “What is fascinating is that they won the next Test match!” replied Dravid.
This incident showed that Ashwin is not only a brilliant bowler, but also a mind that thinks deeply about the game. He would never have thought that his words could help the opposing team. However, all this is normal in sports, because ideas and analysis are always open to everyone.
