The upcoming Indian summer may pave way to a mouth-watering clash between India's legendary chess Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand and premier off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on a cricket field.
In a video posted by Viswanathan Anand on the soical media platform 'X', he can be seen practising with a bat in hand and giving the ball a whack.
"Hey @ashwinravi99! Brushing up on my off-spin for the face-off. This summer, it's not black and white; it's whites vs whites!" Anand captioned the video.
Ashwin didn't take long to respond and replied by saying, "Sir, look forward".
Both players are masters of their respective crafts and have brought laurels to the country with magnificent achievements over the years.
Anand won the FIDE World Rapid Chess Championship in 2003 and 2017, and the World Blitz Cup in 2000. He was the first-ever recipient of the Khel Ratna award in 1991-92 for his illustrious achievements.
On the other hand, Ashwin is only the second Indian in the history of Test cricket to bag more than 500 wickets. Ashwin recorded the feat in the first innings of the third Test of the series against England at the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot.
The 37-year-old wily spinner wasn't quite able to stamp his authority on the series straightaway but got better as the bilateral contest rolled on.
He came to the fore in the fourth Test of the series with figures of 5/51 in the second innings and helped India emerge victorious by five wickets and take an unassailable lead (3-1) in the series.
The fifth and final Test at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium (HPCA) in Dharamsala was when Ashwin looked his lethal best. Playing in his 100th Test match, Ashwin bagged a for-for (4/51) and a five-wicket haul (5/77) to help Team India win the game by an innings and 64 runs.
