Veteran Indian cricketer Rahul Dravid recently took a dig at Ravichandran Ashwin over a hilarious incident which took place during the 2023 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The light-hearted conversation took place in an episode of Kutti Stories with Ash, during which Dravid recalled the much talked about YouTube video of Ashwin.
Dravid recalls Ashwin’s YouTube controversy
India was in a dominant position in the test series against Australia in 2023, 2-0. Soon, Ashwin posted a Tamil video on his YouTube channel, where he provided his advice on how to play spin in Indian conditions.
The video was meant to be enjoyed by the fans but in the very next Test Australia shocked India beating them by nine wickets at Indore. This timing generated a lot of criticism and many accused Ashwin of indirectly guiding Australia.
Rahul Dravid’s playful roast of Ashwin
Dravid could not help joking with Ashwin as he related the incident. “You even coached the Australian team. I got sent a clip. Unfortunately, it was in Tamil. So that’s the one I’ve seen about you. You’re speaking in Tamil and with a little bit of Tamil that I understand, you’re coaching the Australian team in the middle of the Australian series, how to play spin. And I’m thinking, Ash, the series is not over,” Dravid said, which had Ashwin bursting into laughter.
Ashwin was fast to deny. “If I knew how to do that, I would have told our boys how to play spin. I mean, why would I go and tell the Aussies?” he explained, a criticism, brushing the censure aside.
Ashwin and Dravid on public backlash
The discussion was also diverted to the criticism that Dravid received due to the video. Ashwin noted that he did not want to engage the coach in the controversy.
Dravid had an apt reply to this. “The flak I got was ‘Ashwin is coaching better than you are – what are you doing?’,” he joked, drawing laughter.
This light hearted ribbing between Rahul Dravid and Ashwin brought out the spirit of the Indian dressing room, despite the criticism that is leveled against it.
Mitchell Starc’s cheeky remark to Ashwin
Then Ashwin also told an incident of third Test in Indore which was funny. In one instance, he tells of a conversation he had with the Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc after a hard training session.
“An interesting thing was that (Mitchell) Starc came and told me. I mean, he bowled a bumper, and I just left it in the Indore Test match. I think we were 80 for 7 or something. We went for lunch, and he was walking with me. He was like, ‘Can I tell you how to play the bouncer like your YouTube video?’,” Ashwin revealed.
Dravid did not want to leave another opportunity to poke fun at him, and he joked that Australia had hired a person who knew Tamil just to understand the video of Ashwin. “It’s good to know that Starc knows Tamil. I think it was maybe the Australian guys got some Tamil guy to sort of…” Dravid said, and left the banter on a rollicking note.
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