Too early to comment on Dravid’s coaching style: Ashwin

Ravichandran Ashwin says it’s too early to comment on Rahul Dravid’s coaching style but the premier India spinner is confident that happiness will be back in the dressing room under the stalwart’s guidance.

Dravid replaced Ravi Shastri in the Indian set-up, beginning his stint with the ongoing India-New Zealand Twenty20 series.

Ashwin is back in the Indian limited-overs squad after spending four years on the sidelines. Since mid-2017 the spinner did not get to play a single white-ball game and even warmed the benches in the team’s recent England Test tour. The 35-year-old made a comeback at the recently concluded T20 World Cup when he played against Afghanistan and is now part of the team that is clashing with New Zealand, taking two wickets in the series opener. ”It’s too early for me to comment on Rahul Dravid’s coaching style, but he’s put the hard yards in through the U-19 level,’ Ashwin told the official broadcaster after India’s five-wicket win on Wednesday. ‘He won’t leave much to chance, and he’ll be all about preparation and process so that we can bring the happiness back into the Indian dressing room,’ he added.

India has new leadership in place with Dravid taking over from Shastri and Rohit Sharma replacing Virat Kohli as captain in the T20s.

Talking about the first T20, Ashwin said he realized that taking the pace off the ball was working wonders. ‘The slower you bowled, there was more purchase you got on this pitch. If you hit the seam and tossed it up, it did do things as Santner showed in the second innings,’ he said.

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