Washington Sundar and Murugan Ashwin youngsters excited to reunite under RCB banner

The 11th edition of the Indian Premier League is fast approaching. Various franchises have begun their practice with their revamped teams already. Among these teams is RCB, one of the favorites to win the tournament this year. They are just kicking off with their practice sessions as the players are joining the team one by one. The RCB team has also covered its loopholes from the previous editions.

Two players from the squad seem to be excited about their reunion and playing with the new team. Young sensation Washington Sundar and Murugan Ashwin will be featuring in the RCB squad this year. These two players also play for the same state team Tamil Nadu. Furthermore, these two played for the Rising Pune Supergiant earlier.

Washington said he is happy that he will have a Tamil Nadu team-mate at RCB. Speaking about Sundar, “We share a good rapport. And he’s done well in the recently concluded series in Sri Lanka. So I’ll talk to him about that experience; as to how was it like bowling to players at the international level,” said M. Ashwin.

Both players spoke during the first day’s play of the elite group final in the TNCA first division cricket league at the SSN College on Friday. It is also learned that the duo will leave for the second part of the preparatory camp with RCB on Saturday. They have been asked to report to the camp by Sunday morning. This means that they would not play against each other in the final here for their respective teams – Globe Trotters (Washington) and Grand Slam (Ashwin).

Getting acquainted with the ‘home pitch’

Ashwin, who attended the first-leg of RCB practice session spoke about the preparation. Sundar had to miss this out as he was in Sri Lanka then. “The preparatory camp was actually a camp for us to get into the T20 mindset. It was to get used to the white ball and the conditions at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. It was also an opportunity for the members of the squad to get to know each other. But most importantly, it was a camp for us to get accustomed to the home pitch,” Ashwin said.

“I had the chance to interact with him (Vettori). Crucially, he focused on bowling the right lengths and the variation of speed,” said Ashwin on his lessons from the camp. Also, if the pair gets a chance to play together, and still better, bowl in tandem, Ashwin said there will be “easy, better communication” between the two. “Communication is critical between spinners bowling in tandem,” he added.