Rohit Sharma playing the pull-shot (L) and Virat Kohli playing the cover drive (R) – AFP Image
R Ashwin had some surprising picks for who played his favourite cover drive and pull-shot and it is not who you think it is.
India’s favourite spinner was at it again and this time Ravichandran Ashwin revealed his favourite batters to play the cover drive and the pull-shot. The veteran all-rounder is no slouch with the bat himself, and he has given some out-of-the-box answers regarding his picks for two of the most important shots for a batter.
Speaking to Vimal Kumar on his YouTube channel, Ashwin was asked on his picks who played the best cover drive and pull-shot and the veteran off-spinner had some interesting answers to share.
“Cover Drive? Marcus Trescothick. You know him right? I do and his cover drive was really great. Michael Vaughan also had a great cover drive as well,” he shared.
Marcus Trescothick is a former England opening batter who has represented England in all three formats. The left-handed batter has been a mainstay for the England side who was part of the Ashes-winning squad in 2005 as well.
It would be surprising, to say the least, that Ashwin did not pick Virat Kohli’s iconic cover drive as the answer, but then again, Ashwin never was the type to settle for the expected.
Ashwin also revealed his pick for his favourite pull-shot and following the same theme, he went with another left-field answer.
“Pull Shot? Ricky Ponting. I will talk to Rohit and tell him it’s Ponting,” he added.
To be fair to Ashwin, Ponting is one of the greats of the game having led Australia to multiple World Cup titles and also had a big role with the bat as well where he has been Australia’s best batter for quite some time.
His pull-shot was mimicked by a lot of people but nobody was able to nail it to perfection. Rohit on the other hand has carved out his share of admirers with his pull-shot and will be expected to deliver many of those in their upcoming assignment against Bangladesh.
Team India takes on Bangladesh in a two-match Test series followed by a three-match T20I series all of which takes place at home. The two Tests are set to take place in Chennai and Kanpur respectively with the red-ball series beginning on September 19.
