Coach Sunil Subramaniam: Advice from Rahul Dravid and Muralitharan helped Ravichandran Ashwin

R Ashwin

India maintained their winning run at the 2015 World Cup down under, winning their fifth game on the trot against Ireland at Seddon Park in Hamilton on Tuesday. Although the fast bowlers didn't provide the team with early inroads, the spinners, led by Ravichandran Ashwin, brought India back into the game and ensured that the Irish couldn't capitalise on a good start and post a 300+ total on the board.

Ashwin was once again the pick of the Indian bowlers, picking up 2 for 38 in 10 overs. The 28-year-old has bowled beautifully in the tournament so far and has been rewarded for imparting flight on the ball, with 11 wickets in 5 overs, including a Man of the Match spell of 4 for 25 against the UAE at Perth.

Help from Dravid and Muralitharan

Revealing the reasons behind his impressive showing, former Tamil Nadu spinner and Ashwin’s long-time coach, Sunil Subramaniam has said that the off-spinner has realised now that he should look to bowl at one place now and some valuable advice from former Indian batsman Rahul Dravid and former Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan has helped him tremendously.

"If you start tinkering with your line etc., you can't execute what you want to do. Ashwin had a long chat with Rahul and Murali during that (India-England) series and later confessed to me that he was beginning to believe that he had to bowl in one place," he said.

Ashwin – a big match performer

This isn't the first time that the Tamil Nadu cricketer has risen up to the occasion at a global stage and performed. During the Champions Trophy win in 2013, Ashwin picked up 8 wickets in 5 matches at an average of 22.62. He backed that up with another good show in the World T20 in Bangladesh last year, where he took 11 scalps in 6 matches at an economy of 5.35, that helped the Men in Blue reach the final.

Subramaniam said that the Chennai Super Kings bowler’s performances in big tournaments is an indication of the person that he is.

"Performing well in bigger tournaments shows the true character of any player and Ashwin has time and again showcased that," he said.