Adithya Ashok, a leggie from New Zealand, feels that his short yet precious time spent at the CSK Academy in Chennai last year has given him an important reference point ahead of the three-match ODI series against India commencing on January 11 in Baroda.
The 23-year-old became one of the latest Indian-origin players to represent the Black Caps after spending close to two weeks training in Chennai, where he got to experience Indian pitches and conditions that were extremely different from those back home in New Zealand.
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With the experience of bowling on pace-friendly surfaces, Ashok said, helped him in understanding how wickets in India behave and how much better spinners can plan their dismissals.
In a Select Virtual Media Interaction on Thursday, Ashok said:
"First of all, with the experience in Chennai, I was really fortunate to get that opportunity. I am thankful to New Zealand Cricket for giving me this opportunity to go over there with a few of our boys and learn."
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On Understanding the Indian Surface: Red vs. Black Soil
Aged particularly concerned for Ashok who, under the guidance of CSK Academy chief Sriram Krishnamurthy, experienced understanding of red-soil and black-soil pitches, an important aspect of Indian cricket.
Ashok said:
"We have a great rapport with Sriram Krishnamurthy, who's obviously the lead there. The stuff we learned from there was unreal, to be honest. Understanding about potentially how you can go about setting up batters and things like that.
A lot of things we learned, which were really cool. The differences between black soil and red soil in terms of how these pitches behave, and things like this. I think these are the huge takeaways for me, and it's just kind of building my library as a cricketer, which in my sense is probably the most important."
With Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma possibly featuring in the ODI series, Ashok is hoping that the lessons will translate into smart execution rather than mere expectations.
Knowledge From Experience, not Assumptions
Though Ashok has played in India before, he is cautious enough to refrain from making any deductions on that basis.
Ashok said:
"It just gives me a little bit of like a base understanding. I don't think it sits there and makes you like tick the box and go, okay, sweet, I'm gonna do well or okay, I've got this covered or whatever. You just have an understanding of what it might behave like."
He added:
"And I think you give yourself the opportunity to have a bit of experience under your belt and build that library for yourself so that you can recall the experiences and recall the conversations that you had with people and the way that the ball behaved off the surface, things like that."
He further said:
"So having been here before, and especially with Sriram (Krishnamurthy) and stuff in Chennai, it only creates a little bit more experience for myself, which I'm very grateful for."
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Roots in Tamil Nadu: A Tribute to the Past
Ashok is rooted in Tamil Nadu, born in the city of Vellore, and moved to New Zealand with his family when he was just four years of age; yet, his ties to his hometown remain. He often visits India and is particularly close to his late grandfather, who exposed him to Tamil cinema and culture.
In solidarity, Ashok maintains a Tamil tattoo on his bowling arm reading "En vazhi thani vazhi" - "my way is a unique way", a favorite quote from the Rajinikanth film viewed with his grandfather in his last days.
Learning from the Greats: Warne, Sodhi, and Mentors
Even if Shane Warne is Ashok's all-time ideal, he receives instructions on a daily basis from much closer to home. Ish Sodhi, New Zealand's top white-ball leg-spinner, has been instrumental in his mentorship.
"Should you ask me: Who is my favorite leg spinner even today, it is pretty tough to go past Shane Warne. But growing up in New Zealand, it was already wonderful to see, and I am truly fortunate to be able to have the relationship with him now: someone like Ish is big for me in terms of being like a big brother.
Someone that I watched growing up and in high school and intermediate primary school, high school, all of those, trying to watch him play and stuff like that. And another one I was really fortunate to watch is my current mentor Tarun."
To say that former New Zealand spinner Paul Wiseman has helped him tremendously, especially during the time of recovery from a serious back injury that required surgery, is an understatement, a rare setback for a spinner.
Another Chapter in the Country of His Birth
As he prepares New Zealand for India in a three-match ODI series, Ashok sees the trip not as a battleground of maturity, but rather as a further opportunity for him to develop.
The young leg spinner is back in the country of his birth armed with lessons from Chennai and seasoned guidance, all geared towards adding more entries to his evolving "library", one delivery, one spell at a time.
