Will be an unpredictable captain, says Ravi Ashwin ahead of IPL

Ace Indian spin bowler Ravi Ashwin will be seen donning more than just one hat in this year’s Indian Premier League, the new one being the captaincy hat. As is known already, the former Chennai Super Kings bowler was named the skipper of the Kings XI Punjab franchise – an announcement that was made on a Facebook live session hosted by former India opener and mentor of the Kings – Virender Sehwag.

A new challenge for Ashwin

In the build-up to the 11th season of the T20 extravaganza, the newly sworn-in skipper spoke to the media about his new role in his new team. Speaking about it, Ashwin said that he will not give much room to the opponent players and captains to predict his moves as a captain.

“It is a new challenge. You’ll not be able to predict my next move. All players you think are going to open will play in the middle order & all the middle-order batsmen will open. I’ll try & stay as unpredictable as possible,” the Tamil Nadu spin bowler told ANI.

A bowler as a captain

IPL 11 begins on April 7 at the iconic Wankhede Stadium, where Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings will battle it out in the first game. For Punjab, their first assignment is against the Delhi Daredevils at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium on April 8. When Ashwin was appointed the captain, Sehwag revealed that he always wanted a bowler to be a captain – something which is rare in cricket worldwide due to the hectic workload of a bowler.

“I always thought that if someone should become the captain it should be a bowler because I am a great fan of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Kapil Dev. These were bowlers, who went on to become captains and did really well for the team. I’m sure Ashwin would wonders for Kings XI Punjab this season,” Sehwag had said.