T20 World Cup 2021: "Ravichandran Ashwin doesn't want to be pigeonholed with the rest of the finger-spinning world" - Dinesh Karthik

Dinesh Karthik believes Ravichandran Ashwin doesn't want to be 'pigeonholed' as just a run-of-the-mill off-spinner. Karthik said Ashwin's skills and versatility lie somewhere between a finger spinner and a mystery spinner.

The wicketkeeper-batter was reacting to Ravichandran Ashwin's recent statement where he claimed to have added some more "subtle variations" to his bowling that are still erroneously dubbed as arm balls and carrom balls. The 35-year-old remarked that he wants the world to change its perception of him.

Dinesh Karthik told Cricbuzz:

"I completely get what he's saying. He doesn't want to be pigeonholed along with the rest of the finger-spinning world. He says that because he has the carrom ball, he thinks like a leg-spinner so bowls more outgoing delivered a right-hander and for a left-hander, he's bowling a lot more of his stock-ball which is off-spin. He wants the world to perceive him as a very versatile bowler and not a finger spinner. I think he's somewhere between a finger spinner and a mystery spinner. We haven't got a word for it but he's somewhere there in the between."

Ravichandran Ashwin recently made his comeback in T20Is after more than four years. Playing against Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi, he picked up two wickets for just 14 runs from four overs in what turned out to be a match-winning spell.

He added another victim to the tally by dismissing Scotland's Chris Greaves - beaten by a ball that turned away from the right-hander - for just 1 run on Friday.

Ravichandran Ashwin feels that he was dropped from the Indian team because people thought he's just a finger spinner: Dinesh Karthik

Ravichandran Ashwin also talked about how his game evolved after getting dropped from white-ball cricket in 2017.

Dinesh Karthik revealed at the time, Ravichandran Ashwin believed he was left out because people only saw him as an off-spinner. Karthik explained how Ashwin is different from the usual off-spinner and said:

"I know for a fact that he feels that when he wasn't picked for the Indian team it was because people were feeling he's a finger spinner. He wants people to know that, 'I can bowl the leg-spin, I use my seam position, I use the other variations I have'. What's the wrist-spinner do? Why is it difficult to hit him compared to the finger spinner? For a finger spinner, you know the bowl is turning one way and you can lineup beforehand. What does Ashwin do? Yes he bowls off-spin but he has the ball that goes away which is the carrom ball or a knuckleball, however, you want to call it. "

Dinesh Karthik added:

"So he's saying 'I can do that consistently ball after ball' and under lights obviously some batters find it hard to pick him. And hence, 'Don't pigeonhole me into the off-spinner/finger-spinner bracket, I am slightly different to the others', is what he's trying to say."

Ashwin's wicket and contributions from Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami skittled the Scotland batting lineup for just 88 runs. India would like to chase it as soon as possible to boost their net run rate.