"He has Ravichandran in his name, but he is not related to me"- Ashwin names 1 young batter to watch out for in domestic cricket

Former Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has showered praise on upcoming Karnataka cricket star Smaran Ravichandran for his excellent performances in domestic cricket. Ashwin clarified that although the Karnataka player had 'Ravichandran' in his name, they were not related.

After retiring from international matches, Ravichandran Ashwin has focused a lot on his YouTube channel. He recently posted a video on his YouTube channel, reviewing the latest happenings in Indian cricket.

Covering the domestic stories first, Ashwin spoke about Smaran's double hundred in the Karnataka vs Punjab match and said:

"Smaran Ravichandran is not my relative. He has Ravichandran in his name, but he is not related to me. Please don't think like that as I praise him. It's not like that in south India." [2.00 onwards]

"He performed so well in Vijay Hazare Trophy. I'm sure a lot of IPL teams would have noticed him. He is a left-handed batter from Karnataka. He did a good job in the Karnataka Premier League as well, and he continued in the same vein in Ranji Trophy, scoring a double hundred."

Ashwin has returned to the Chennai Super Kings for IPL 2025. It will be interesting to see if he suggests Smaran's name to the franchise for the next season.

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Ravichandran Smaran played a huge role in Karnataka cricket team's Vijay Hazare Trophy win

As mentioned by Ashwin, Smaran has been extremely impressive in domestic tournaments of late. In the recently concluded Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025, Smaran scored a magnificent century in the final against Vidarbha to help Karnataka become the champions.

Prior to that, Smaran played a match-winning knock of 76 runs in the semifinal match against Haryana as well. Continuing in the same way, Smaran scored 203 on a pitch, where the entire Punjab team got all out for 55 in the Ranji Trophy. It shows that Smaran is a big-match player, who can become a game-changer for any team he plays in the future.