Ashwin remains a key component of Dragons’ set-up

R. Ashwin may no longer be sporting Dindigul Dragons’ jersey in a playing capacity, but the former India off-spinner remains an integral part of the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) franchise.

Ashwin, who retired from all forms of Indian cricket last year, is donning the hat of a mentor for TNPL Season 10. Guru Kedarnath, R. Srinivasan, and K. Vignesh are some of the other prominent names in the Dragons coaching contingent.

Dragons’ captain B. Indrajith said that Ashwin was “actively involved” in the lead-up to the new campaign. “At the time of the auction, he was in the USA. He connected with us at 2 a.m. and gave us his inputs. He was with us during our camp in Salem. He is here with us and mentoring the boys. Be it practice sessions, planning or squad discussions, he is there,” Indrajith said.

Guru Kedarnath believed that the Dragons players had benefited big time with the presence of Ashwin but admitted that it would be extremely difficult to fill the void left by him in the XI. “Ashwin, the player, is irreplaceable. We will miss him on the field… a player of his calibre.”

Time for change

But Ashwin felt that the time had arrived for youngsters to take the team forward.

“I have been at the centre, but DD, as a franchise, has delivered exciting games over the years. We have a lot of young talents. Who knows, one of them could become the next great player from Tamil Nadu,” Ashwin said in a video.