"I have looked at MS Dhoni and said 'wow'" - Ravichandran Ashwin says batting lower down the order in T20s is the most unforgiving thing in life

Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin fell short of words to describe MS Dhoni's stature as a batter in T20 cricket. In a recent interview with RR's official website, the 35-year-old stated that batting lower down the order in a T20 game is the most unforgiving thing in life.

Terming MS Dhoni 'amazing' and admiring his ability to finish games, Ashwin said:

"Batting lower down the order in a T20 game is the most unforgiving thing in life. And for a very, very long time...I have just looked at MS Dhoni and said 'wow, this guy is amazing'. The amount of times he goes there, he keeps receiving this flak for slowing the game down, taking it deep and then closing it out."

Ravichandran Ashwin further added that many players are trying to emulate the former Indian captain but noted that there can only be one MS Dhoni.

"It's an incredible ability, which I think a lot of players are trying to come behind MS and wanting to be MSD. There's something to learn. There's never going to be another MSD."

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"I received a lot of criticism for how I've tried to expand beyond the realm" - Ravichandran Ashwin

Ravichandran Ashwin has made his mark batting higher up the order for the Rajasthan Royals this year. Speaking about his promotion, he said:

"I've been very conscious of the fact that I've been batting down the order for years. I batted eight, I batted nine, I batted seven. Seven at best in a T20 franchise. And it is a very hard place to bat for a bowler who can bat a bit. So literally in most of the franchises that I played, I would average maybe 40 balls a season. If I batted more than 40-50 balls, I think either the team has done very badly or I have got a chance to bat a little ahead in that particular competition."

The Tamil Nadu cricketer also spoke about how he strived hard to improve when Duncan Fletcher was the head coach of the Indian team. He also spoke about some great advice he received from the former coach.

"It's been a journey. I have made a lot of mistakes. Years ago, we had this head coach called Duncan Fletcher for the Indian cricket team. I used to go and ask him how do I improve this? How do I improve that? How do I get better? He said the only way you get better is by making mistakes and failing in front of people."

On his inquisitive nature to explore more about the game, he said:

"I received a lot of criticism for how I've tried to expand beyond the realm. Sometimes people just may feel why the hell is he doing all these things? Is he overambitious? Is he trying too much? But that's just me. It you take that out of me, you won't get this person."

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"So I come with a lot of problems. If I'm utilised and if I'm given the form of expression I require, I think I can explore boundaries."

Ravichandran Ashwin will take the field on Tuesday for the Qualifier 1 game against the Gujarat Titans (GT).