Last Updated on 2 years by Charbel Coorey

Cricket News: Australia roped in Ashwin impersonator in nets ahead of Nagpur Test | Ashwin impersonator bowls to Australia team

The touring Australian squad is relying on the skillsets of the now-renowned ‘Ravichandran Ashwin-impersonator’ Mahesh Pithiya to tackle the Indian veteran off-spinner in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy starting from Thursday. The Australian management spotted Pithiya, who apparently has a bowling action very similar to that of Ashwin, on Instagram. They flew the young Baroda spinner down to Bengaluru and have been training with him in nets ever since, according to Cricbuzz.

Pithiya got a reference from his friend Pritesh Joshi for this role. Joshi is himself a throwdown specialist from Baroda and has been in touch with some of the Australian coaches in order to work with the team in their India tour.

Pithiya’s similarity to Ashwin was first spotted by Australian southpaw Matt Renshaw and then batting talisman Steven Smith. Smith immediately took notice of the young spinner and began playing against him in a clear bid to better prepare himself for facing Ashwin in the four Tests.

Smith and Pithiya have been constantly engaged in a tussle in the nets since then. Sometimes, the Australian batsman has managed to get a hang of the spinner’s trickery whereas the rookie has also been able to outmanoeuvre the 33-year-old on occasions.

“I was rarely called by my original name. It was always Ashwin,” said Pithiya, who has been well-known for the resemblance of his bowling action with that of the Indian great since a pretty long time. The youngster hails from Saurashtra but plays for Baroda where has been taken under the wings of the Pathan brothers (Yusuf and Irfan).

Meanwhile, Ashwin isn’t the sole focus of the Australian contingent. They have also on-boarded left-arm spinner Shashank Mehrotra, who hails from Hyderabad, to help them train for India’s spin duo of Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel.

The first Test will commence from February 9 at the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) Stadium in Nagpur.