Rahul Dravid busted R Ashwin for coaching Indian team better than The Wall, move backfired: 'Mitchell Starc knows Tamil'

Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and ex-India head coach Rahul Dravid on Thursday revisited a bizarre episode from the 2023 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, when a Tamil-language video from Ashwin’s YouTube channel sparked criticism suggesting he had “coached” the Australian team on playing spin. Ravichandran Ashwin recalled the 2023 Indore Test video controversy with Rahul Dravid

Ashwin had released the clip after Australia lost the second Test, explaining “how to play spin in India.” While intended as educational content, fans and cricket enthusiasts criticised him for allegedly helping Australia. The backlash grew after India’s unexpected defeat in the third Test at Indore, with social media flooded with memes and jokes — prompting the channel admin to even change the clip’s thumbnail.

Recalling the incident in the latest episode of 'Kutti Stories with Ash', Dravid took a sly dig at Ashwin for "coaching the Australian team," mentioning that he even got sent a clip of that video.

"You even coached the Australian team. I got sent a clip. Unfortunately, it was in Tamil. So that's the one I've seen about you. You're speaking in Tamil and with a little bit of Tamil that I understand, you're coaching the Australian team in the middle of the Australian series, how to play spin. And I'm thinking, Ash, the series is not over," the former India batter said as Ashwin could not stop laughing.

Ashwin quickly clarified: “If I knew how to do that, I would have told our boys how to play spin. I mean, why would I go and tell the Aussies?”

Dravid admitted he was joking, to which Ashwin replied, “I know that you got the flak for it.” Dravid added humorously, “The flak I got was ‘Ashwin is coaching better than you are — what are you doing?’”

Ashwin then revealed the interesting conversation he had with Australia fast bowler Mitchell Starc during the third Test in Indore. He said: "An interesting thing was that (Mitchell) Starc came and told me. I mean, he bowled a bumper, and I just left it in the Indore Test match. I think we were 80 for 7 or something. We went for lunch, and he was walking with me. He was like, 'Can I tell you how to play the bouncer like your YouTube video?'"

Dravid speculated that the Aussies might have hired a Tamil-speaking person to decode the video. He said, "It's good to know that Starc knows Tamil. I think it was maybe the Australian guys got some Tamil guy to sort of..." But Ashwin noted that subtitles in the video may have helped, adding to the irony.

Click here to read article