‘I find it ridiculously funny’ - Ravichandran Ashwin reflects on whether Yashasvi Jaiswal can perform in Australia

Veteran Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin recently came forward to young batter Yashasvi Jaiswal’s defence regarding if he will be able to compete at the highest level in Australia.

It is worth noting that India will be touring Australia for a five-game Test series later in 2024, and former England skipper Michael Vaughan came forward to ask Ashwin whether he thinks Jaiswal will perform. Seeing the question, Ashwin opined that he finds it very funny that people look for players to fail in foreign conditions and even opined that it is the beauty of international cricket. 

“This is one part of the narrative that I genuinely laugh at. In India especially, you have lots of experts saying about someone who has sort of burst onto the scene. Hey, but hang on, let’s wait and see how he performs in Australia, in South Africa, in England,” Ashwin said while interacting on the Club Prairie Fire podcast.

“I find it ridiculously funny, because unless and until you want somebody to fail, you wouldn’t say something like that. You’re looking forward to somebody failing because that’s the beauty of international cricket,” he added.

That’s the attitude that gets you to the top: Ashwin

Furthermore, Ravichandran Ashwin talked about how it could be a good experience for Yashasvi Jaiswal to tour Australia and play in tough conditions. Opining that looking forward to taking on Australia, would be the attitude that would get Jaiswal to the top. 

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“It’s the experience, right? And life is all about experiencing new things, and it is going to be challenging and that’s the whole point of travelling somewhere and getting on top of it, because at the end of the day, the attitude of a cricketer is to conquer everything. That’s the attitude that gets you to the top,” the 37-year-old continued. 

“Somebody like Yashasvi is a natural-gifted ball-striker. He is somebody who, whatever he has touched, has turned into gold. But I am sure, down the line, he is going to get the opportunity to fail and also see what it takes to succeed,” Ashwin concluded.

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