Team India had struggled against Ajantha Mendis quite a few times last season, but made amends when they toured Sri Lanka earlier this year. Now they want a mystery spinner of their own, and Ramachandran Ashwin seems to be the man.

The 22-year-old Chennai lad has made rapid strides over the last one year and figures in the list of 30 probables for the World Twenty20 in England. A product of tennis-ball cricket, Ashwin, like Mendis, is a finger spinner.

“I saw Mendis bowling with the flick of his fingers to good effect. I backed myself to bowl those and found I was very good at that. I also use the flipper as my variation and rely more on accuracy rather than turning the ball square,” he says.

Representing the Chennai Super Kings, Ashwin looks up to another Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan but says he won’t be adding the doosra to his armoury. “I don’t want the doosra, my action and style of bowling doesn’t suit it. However, I learn other things from Murali. He understands my brand of off-spin and tells me when to use the craft and variations. He told the importance to bowl slow to foreign players and be a bit quicker through the air against Indians,” he says.

Ashwin, who played for India under-17 as a batsman, says he’s not concerned about the shift. “I know where I am good, whether it’s batting and bowling. As long as I have it clear in my mind, it doesn’t really matter. During my India under-17 matches, I had decent scores under my belt, right now I’m an off-spinner who can contribute with the bat,” he says.

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