Mitchell Marsh seeks advice on handling spin from Ravichandran Ashwin
Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marsh is being mentored by Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on tackling spin.
Marsh is playing this year’s IPL for newly formed franchise Rising Pune Supergiants. He is working on playing spin on the turning subcontinent pitches with his teammate Ashwin.
The lessons that the 24-year-old is learning will help him a great deal when he heads to Sri Lanka as a part of Australia’s Test tour in July. Australia are also scheduled to play a four-match Test series against India early next year.
Watching Ashwin bowl closely will help Marsh play other spinners
Marsh told Cricket Australia that he had spoken a lot to Ashwin at training about how to tackle spin. He also added that the advice he is getting from the ace spinner will help him combat spin in the international arena.
The Australian stated, "I've spoken a lot to him at training which is really good. We play India a lot, so the more I can face him, the more I can watch the ball coming out of his hand and hopefully be able combat that when we play India.”
The Perth-born cricketer also insisted that his training with Ashwin will also help him tackle other spinners. Marsh stated, "For me it's just trying to understand where he bowls it and why he bowls there. Not only to combat just his bowling, but every other spinner out there and understanding what other spinners are trying to do when the ball is turning and the wickets are a little bit slower, which is something we're not used to."
For Australia, playing spin was their biggest weakness when they were thrashed 4-0 by India in the Test tour of 2013.
Ashwin emerged as the biggest spin-bowling nemeses in that tour as he claimed 29 wickets in four Test matches. He was one of the main reasons why Australia could not get a win against India in that series.
Marsh further spoke about the exact things that he is working on related to his batting, "I feel like I've got the power game to be able to hit boundaries but the best players in the world get off strike almost every ball, certainly in Twenty20 cricket. That's what I'm working on and keep learning off guys like both Ashwins.”