New Zealand’s Vellore-born leg-spinner Adithya Ashok is thrilled about the opportunity to test his bowling skills against Indian batting stalwarts Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the upcoming three-match ODI series starting in Vadodara on Sunday.
Ashok, 23, who moved from Vellore, Tamil Nadu, to Auckland, New Zealand, at the age of four, has participated in two ODIs and a T20I. With New Zealand missing several regular players for this 50-over series, this presents Ashok with a chance to bowl to two of the game’s modern legends.
“It’s a very exciting opportunity and challenge to play against those guys and, again, test yourself against people that are considered great and definitely are great. The things that they’ve done for the game and the achievements across their careers have been pretty phenomenal,” Ashok stated during a select virtual interaction.
The leg-spinner sports the tattoo ‘En vazhi thani vazhi’ (My way is a unique way) on his bowling arm, a nod to superstar Rajinikanth from his film ‘Padayappa’. This tribute honors both the actor and Adithya’s late grandfather, who watched the movie with him before passing away.
Ashok’s last trip to India was for a two-week spin camp at the CSK Academy in Chennai, led by coach Sriram Krishnamurthy. He aims to leverage this experience while bowling to Kohli and Rohit.
“I’m going in with an opportunity mindset and a growth mindset, really process-driven. I’m trying to bring my unique skills to the table while competing. I’m excited to play against Rohit, Kohli, and everyone else in the team. They are all phenomenal players,” he added.
Rather than viewing the series as pressure-filled, Ashok is concentrating on improvement and soaking up the learning experience that comes with bowling in India. “The way that I’ve tried to approach things is being really process-driven and understanding that if I can learn new methods about myself as a cricketer and as a person, I think that puts me in a richer position,” he explained.
“Obviously, success would be great, but if you can remove expectation and emotions around the outcome, that puts you in the best position to learn and improve. My focus has always been on how to get better—if I’m improving by one percent every day, the results will follow,” he elaborated.
Ashok, who represented New Zealand in the 2020 Under-19 World Cup in South Africa, looks up to Australia’s leg-spin legend Shane Warne and fellow Kiwi Ish Sodhi. He also credits former national spinners and his mentors, Tarun Nethula and Paul Wiseman, as vital figures in his life, especially during his recovery from back surgery performed by Rowan Schouten, who has operated on notable players like Jasprit Bumrah and Prasidh Krishna.
“Having the back issue was a major setback. Being a young spinner with such an injury is quite rare,” he shared. He added that both Nethula and Wiseman have played crucial roles in his game, particularly in his return to play, discussing how to maintain movement and positioning to avoid further strain on his back.
Ashok continues to communicate frequently with his mentors while on tour, sharing updates like after New Zealand’s first training session in Vadodara. “I sent Tarun a message about how things went today. I’m constantly reaching out to both of them; they’re vital to my support network,” concluded Ashok, who possesses all the elements needed to carve out a successful path in the New Zealand cricket setup across formats.