Murugan Ashwin reveals he learnt to bowl the "flipper" from Imran Tahir

Murugan Ashwin, the Rising Pune Supergiants leggie, has revealed that he learnt the secrets of bowling the flipper from South African spinner Imran Tahir during the recently concluded ninth season of the Indian Premier League.

The Tamil Nadu based spinner, who played 10 games for the RPS this season felt that Tahir bowled the flipper very well and he had been keen to learn the skill from the South African. He told TOI, “While he was looking to fine tune his googly, I was keen to learn how to bowl the flipper from him. Tahir is someone who bowls it very well, and he didn't mind sharing the secrets of his skill,"

Ashwin also revealed that while he wanted to learn the flipper from Tahir, he and the South African had earlier exchanged notes on how to bowl the googly. Ashwin had been bowling to the South African batsman in the nets before the ODI in Chepauk last year when Tahir had approached him to praise his googly.

Ashwin revealed that Tahir had wanted to learn the googly from him, saying, “I got to know him during India's ODI against South Africa at Chepauk last year. Tahir was watching me closely when I was bowling at the nets to the South Africa players. He came up to me and praised the way I was bowling especially the googly. I showed him the grip I use while bowling a googly and he was keen to learn,"

The IPL this year was a breakthrough tournament for the young leg-spinner and he felt that it had been a learning curve for him. “To have played alongside a host of international stars and be captained by one of the best -- MS Dhoni, I couldn't have asked for more. The biggest takeaway for me was these stars' involvement with the game. The way they train, maintain their diet and prepare for a game was something I learnt," said the young leg-spinner.

Murugan Ashwin also commented on the influence his namesake, Ravichandran Ashwin had on him during his time with the RPS. He said, “We speak the same language, so it's easier to connect. He told me about bowling at different periods of play and it was fascinating to listen to him,"

The Tamil Nadu bowler had a breakthrough season in the IPL, taking 7 wickets in 10 matches for his team and has been earmarked as one for the future. RPS coach Stephen Fleming was equally impressed with him and in one of his interviews said that he had the qualities that are needed to be a world-class bowler.