MS Dhoni feels Ravichandran Ashwin has bailed him out on various occasions
Rubbishing talks of any possible differences with Ravichandran Ashwin, M.S. Dhoni on Sunday said that the off-spinner has "bailed him out" on various occasions.
"As I have said, Ashwin has bailed me out in a lot of situations — whether bowling in first six or in the slog phase. He is a bowler who can come in and do well at any time," said the Indian skipper, clearing the air on the under- utilisation of his Rising Pune Supergiants teammate, adding that it was nothing but a part of the strategy. Dhoni was widely criticitised on social media and talks of a perceived clash between them was doing the rounds.
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The last time Ashwin finished his quota of bowling four overs was during the India versus Bangladesh match at the M. Chinnaswamy stadium in the Super 10s of the T20 World Cup, in which India won by a run. The Tamil Nadu bowler bowled only five overs in the subsequent three T20 matched he played. During the first IPL match between RPSG and Mumbai Indians, Ashwin was handed the ball in the 16th over, in which he gave away 7 runs and also removed Ambati Rayudu in the first ball of the over. Pune went on to win the match by nine wickets.
"It’s a subject, like revealing strategy. Ashwin is a matured bowler. He can bowl at any point of time. I knew the moment they (Mumbai Indians) lost a few wickets there was pressure on their middle or lower middle order," Dhoni added.
Dhoni had brought in 25- year old Murugan Ashwin, the leg- spinner from Tamil Nadu in the 11th over, who ended his day bowling his part with an economy of 4.00 and a wicket.
Ashwin was earlier quoted saying that him not getting to bowl when the dew had come in played an important role in India's T20 World cup semifinal loss against West Indies, which further added fuel to the issue.