Veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has picked Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma as the two batters he loves to bowl against in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The celebrated cricketer said both batters hate to get out to their India teammates, which makes the contest fun.
Incidentally, Ashwin has played alongside Kohli and Rohit for almost a decade now and knows their game inside out. Speaking on ESPNcricinfo’s show “Polite Enquiries”, Ravichandran Ashwin called both quality batters.
He also that because he doesn’t get to play against the duo often, he looks forward to the IPL for it.
“I love going head-on with Virat and Rohit, to be honest. I think they are two quality batters that have played with me inside the dressing room, not two batters that I’ve got repeated contests against at an international arena,” Ashwin said.Â
“But I get to go against them in the IPL format so I love going against them. They don’t like getting out to bowlers inside the team so I enjoy the contest and look forward to it every year,” he added.Â
Ravichandran Ashwin has gone head-to-head against both Kohli and Rohit 19 times in the IPL. The  Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) cricketer has scored 160 runs against him at an average of 160 and a strike rate of 128, getting out only once.
Meanwhile, Rohit has been dismissed by the spinner twice, but has 109 runs at a strike rate of 91.30 against the 35-year-old.
“We are very, very interested in Women’s IPL” – RR CEO to Ravichandran Ashwin
Ashwin also revealed a significant chat with RR CEO Jake Lush McCrum where the latter confirmed the franchise’s interest in the much-anticipated Women’s IPL.
“The other day I was having a chat with the (RR) CEO. I read an article on some six teams possible for the women’s IPL. I just wanted to check because there are 10 franchises at this point and Jake was up in the arms. He said, ‘Of course! It’s going to be something that we are very, very passionate [about] and very, very interested in.’ So I just looked around the corner and said, ‘OK, is there an opportunity that I can buy some team?’ It’s just too expensive for my liking (chuckles) but I’ll be extremely thrilled to see what RR does,” Ravichandran Ashwin concluded.Â
Incidentally, BCCI is planning to roll out a six-team women’s IPL from 2023 edition.
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