[WATCH] Ravichandran Ashwin's daughters share cute message for off-spinner ahead of PBKS vs RR IPL 2022 clash

Ravichandran Ashwin’s daughters Aadhya and Akhira shared a cute message for the cricketer ahead of Rajasthan Royals' (RR) IPL 2022 encounter against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday.

RR are taking on PBKS in the first game of the double-header on Saturday. Ahead of the contest, Rajasthan's official Twitter handle shared a video of Ashwin's daughters.

In the clip, Ashwin's wife asks the kids whether they want to send any message to their father. One of them says:

"I want to tell him that if he saw this..."

The other one chips in and adds in excitement:

"See us in the bus."

Ashwin's wife reacted to their daughters' innocent wishes by commenting:

"Small goals."

35-year-old Ashwin has claimed eight wickets in 10 matches at an average of 35.50 and an economy rate of 7.10 so far this season. He picked up 3 for 17 in RR's victory over the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).

The off-spinner, however, went wicketless in the team's last match against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). He had figures of 0 for 33 from four overs as KKR chased down a target of 153 with seven wickets in hand.

Earlier in the season, Ashwin created history when he became the first batter in the IPL to 'retire out.' He was batting on 28 off 23 against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) when he headed back to the dugout without being dismissed.

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RR are bowling first against PBKS

Rajasthan have lost the toss in Saturday's match and are bowling first against Punjab. Speaking after losing yet another toss, RR skipper Sanju Samson said:

"We are losing quite a few tosses. We would have batted first as well. We are a balanced side. It's a different challenge and we are ready to go out there and have some fun. This, being a day game, the spinners might get some help."

Rajasthan have made one change to their playing XI. Yashasvi Jaiswal comes in for Karun Nair.

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Playing XIs

Rajasthan Royals: Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Devdutt Padikkal, Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Sen

Punjab Kings: Jonny Bairstow, Shikhar Dhawan, Mayank Agarwal (c), Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Rishi Dhawan, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh, Sandeep Sharma.