Coming Soon: Leg-spin by Ravichandran Ashwin in IPL 2018

File photo of India offspinner Ravichandran Ashwin (Photo: Twitter)

New Delhi: Ravichandran Ashwin is working to revive his limited-overs career and the traditional offspinner is working on adding a leg-spin delivery to his repertoire that could be witnessed in the coming Indian Premier League (IPL) season, in which Ashwin will play for his new franchise Kings XI Punjab (KXIP).

"This is part of my plan going into the IPL. I am just trying to build my armoury. I used to bowl good leg-breaks with my off-spin action when I was playing league cricket in Chennai," Ashwin said on the sidelines of Tamil Nadu's match against Gujarat in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.

Ashwin said feedback from coaches has helped.

"L Balaji has been of great help. First time I was bowling leg-spin, we were working on some actions on how to gain momentum, how I can make a repeatable action work for me. For example, my arm doesn't go 45 degrees, which is perfect for a legspinner. I am more upright. I have to adjust my action. 

"It has been a painful ride. One day it will come out well in the nets and the next day it won't come out all right. It will be frustrating. I have gone through the entire journey and have reached a place where I can land the ball where I want to," Ashwin, who was bought by KXIP for Rs 7.6 crore at the IPL Auction last month, said. 

Ashwin added that he used to have a lot of variations in his bowling but had to cut down on those to get his offbreak right.

"Over a period of time, in search to get my stock ball right, I obviously had to cut out a lot of those things. I had possessed a lot more variations. Having bowled offbreak as the stock ball for almost 10 years, trying to change things around is challenging. But I don't really settle for anything. At no point in my career I thought 'this is it' and decided to settle for the rest of my career," Ashwin said.

Of late, Ashwin and left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja's place has been taken by wrist spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal in India's limited-overs teams; and to their credit, the young duo has done wonders, including on the ongoing tour of South Africa where they have combined to take 13 of the 20 South African wickets in the first two ODIs that India have won.