'He's someone who really cares for you' - Murugan Ashwin heaps praise on his namesake Ravichandran Ashwin

Murugan Ashwin and his namesake Ravichandran Ashwin have a few things in common. Apart from featuring together for Tamil Nadu, both the spin bowlers have played together in the IPL too, representing Rising Pune Supergiant and Kings XI Punjab.

Moreover, they also hold similar academic traits as both the Ashwins studied in the same engineering college in Chennai. Murugan Ashwin, while heaping praise on his namesake, said that he has learnt a lot from Ravichandran Ashwin.

M Ashwin had also sought advice from the senior Ashwin regarding family management. As it turns out, both Ashwins have another similarity– they both have two daughters.

I have learnt a lot from him: Murugan Ashwin

“I have learnt a lot from him. He’s a legend of the game. I’ve been fortunate to interact a lot with him. He is someone who keeps pushing you. He never likes to settle down [for mediocrity] and keeps pushing to get the best out of you.

In that sense, it is very good to have someone close to you, someone who really cares for you and wants you to do well, and is also honest with his feedback. It’s very good to have someone like him around,” said M Ashwin said during the chat show Homerun with AV with sports commentator Arun Venugopal.

“As I said because we have interacted with each other a lot, and because he has two daughters, I can probably ask him how to manage two daughters [M Ashwin has two daughters as well. So does R Ashwin]. They go to pre-school. I have interacted a lot with his wife as well. So, that’s the kind of life advice I can get from him,” he added.

M Ashwin also revealed that he had plans to go to the US for pursuing higher education. However, as fate would have it, he was successful in plying his trade in cricket. After having an impressive Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament, he was snapped up by the now-defunct franchise Rising Pune Supergiant. In his first-ever IPL auction, M Ashwin was bought for a whopping INR 4.5 crore.

“I was very fortunate to have gone for a big price in my first IPL auction. I think my name came up late in the evening. I was really hoping to get picked, because I did have a good Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament. So, my expectations in that auction were really high, so I was a bit tense as well. When my name came out and I was picked, I was really happy about it,” recalled M Ashwin.

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