India's premier off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is touted as one of the best readers of the game and someone who knows how to play with the minds of batters around the world.
Studying the psyche of batters is an important part of Ashwin's game plan and he is renowned for outsmarting them with exceptional ability to execute under pressure.
The 37-year-old gave the Rajasthan Royals (RR) fans a glimpse of his tactical nous when he outfoxed their overseas batter Shimron Hetmyer during a practice session.
Bowling to Hetmyer during a net session, Ashwin explained to the West Indian the changes in the field placement (imaginary). Ashwin told Hetmyer that he was placing a square leg for him and pushing the point and cover fielder back to the fence.
Having spread the web, Ashwin bowled a carefully disguised carrom ball to the southpaw, assuming that he was tempted to play across the line in search of the boundary opportunity on offer on the on-side behind square and pinned him in front of his stumps.
Hetmyer missed the line of the ball and had no answer to Ashwin's mind games.
Ashwin celebrated the moment with both his arms raised in the air whereas Hetmyer went to fetch the ball and toss it back to the wily Indian spinner.
Watch how R Ashwin outsmarts Shimron Hetmyer in the nets:
Meanwhile, Rajasthan Royals will kick-start their IPL 2024 campaign with a fixture against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on March 24 at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.
Rajasthan Royals squad for IPL 2024:
Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler (England), Dhruv Jurel, Kunal Rathore, Donovan Ferreira (South Africa), Tom Kohler-Cadmore (England), Shimron Hetmyer (West Indies), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag, Rovman Powell (West Indies), Shubham Dubey, Ravichandran Ashwin, Abid Mushtaq, Trent Boult (New Zealand), Yuzvendra Chahal, Sandeep Sharma, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Sen, Adam Zampa (Australia), Nandre Burger (South Africa), Avesh Khan.
