Murugan Ashwin enjoyed a great debut for Mumbai Indians in our first match of Tata IPL 2022 against the Delhi Capitals. 

Coming on to bowl in the third over, he had the measure of the dangerous-looking Tim Seifert, almost having him caught off the second ball.

The wicket arrived in just his third ball as Ashwin deceived Seifert with a well-disguised googly that breached the Kiwi’s defences. It was a wicket that was born out of keen observation.

“In the second ball, I saw that Seifert was trying to make room and hit through the off-side because there were no fielders outside the ring due to the powerplay. So that’s when I thought I should slip in the googly. I managed to land it at the right spot and was happy to get that breakthrough for the team,” Ashwin told mumbaiindians.com in an exclusive chat.

As the popular phrase goes, one did bring two, as the leggie snapped up the wicket of Mandeep Singh two balls later. 

“To get Mandeep’s wicket was a really good thing because it brought us back into the game. I was happy that my first over had gone this well,” he added.

The decision to bring on a spinner in the powerplay may have baffled many but it was a plan that the team had worked on and practised in the nets.

“Rohit hinted in the nets that I would be bowling in the powerplay. It was good on his part to give me that confidence and since he let me know beforehand, I was prepared for it in the game,” revealed Ashwin.

While the nets did give him good practice for the game, the leg-spinner had not bowled on the Brabourne wicket before and that’s where some expert, last-minute tips from Sachin Tendulkar himself helped him out.

“Before a game, I generally go to have a look at the pitch. Sachin sir happened to be there and I thought there was no better person to ask advice from on how to bowl on the Brabourne pitch,” said Ashwin.

“He told me that straighter lines - attacking the stumps - are always better here. He also told me that it is better to err on the shorter side rather than going full. He asked me to hit the 5m mark, it was something we had worked on, and also told me what the trajectory of the ball could be. It made things clear for me,” he added.

The mood in the team room post the game was understandably one of disappointment but that was not the case for long.

“We would have liked to be on the winning side but the experienced players in the team reassured us that it is a long tournament and we can always regroup after working on a few things. The mood became light soon as we knew that the defeat was not something we should worry about,” said the leggie.

And when asked who he had bonded the most with in the team, Ashwin talked about his special friendship with Dewald Brevis.

“This is a well-knit unit, everyone here is approachable and it says a lot about the team. Brevis is someone who sits with me at breakfast and we talk about things other than cricket - like life in South Africa or stories about my hometown. I have even taught him a little Tamil,” chuckled Ashwin.

The outcome may not have been ideal but the best figures of the match and some tips from SRT certainly made it a memorable MI debut for Ashwin.