With former Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin retiring from all forms of cricket, including the Indian Premier League, there is speculation about him playing in franchise cricket around the world. Ashwin recently said he was in discussions with the organisers of the ILT20, which takes place in the United Arab Emirates.
South African great AB de Villiers said he would love to see Ashwin play for his home team, Pretoria Capitals, in the South African T20 franchise league, the SA20.
“It will be fantastic for all the teams around the world, including the SA20. Hopefully, he comes to the Pretoria Capitals and helps my home team out. I will definitely be in his ear about coming to play the SA20,” said de Villiers on his YouTube channel.
De Villiers sees Ashwin as someone who can be a scout or mentor for one of the teams in these leagues. “He has played a lot of cricket. He may be a scout for some team or a mentor. That sounds like a wonderful job. It is intense as you need to be at all the auctions, all the training sessions and team meetings. But he’ll do a wonderful job of finding talent and urging them in certain directions,” he said.
Scientist, doctor and professor
He continued to laud Ashwin, calling him a scientist, doctor and professor of the game of cricket.
“What a scientist, doctor and professor of the game. He always took it to the limit with the rulebook and generally got it right even though it was frowned upon sometimes. I always have respect for guys who study the game and he was one of those players,” said de Villiers.
“Incredible skill and a huge icon in India. He won so many games for Team India and CSK over the years. He also moved to a few other teams but never really settled in those teams. He should have always just stayed at CSK. It wasn’t always up to him obviously, but I’ll always remember him as a yellow jersey guy,” he added.
