Source: Radio New Zealand
Adi Ashok bowls for the Black Caps against Bangladesh in the second one-day international at Saxton Oval, Nelson, 20 December. Photosport
Black Caps leg spinner Adi Ashok can’t wait for the excitement of cricket in India, the country of his birth.
Ashok, who played two ODIs and a T20 for New Zealand in 2023, is in the squad which has the first of three ODI matches against India in Vadodara on Sunday (9pm start NZT).
The 23-year-old was just 4-years-old when he left India when his parents decided to move to Auckland for jobs in the medical field.
Ashok has been back to India since but has not been to a big cricket match there and has been taking in what more seasoned team-mates have told him about their experiences.
“They talk about the bars and the atmosphere and how much the people love cricket and stuff like that.”
That’s something he has also gleaned from his father, Ashok, a cricket tragic.
“My father is an absolute nuffy, and his passion for cricket is insane. And, you know, he obviously lived here (in India) for so long… And I guess that’s part of where I learnt and got my desire for cricket as well, through my old man,” he said.
Ashok, who played for New Zealand in the Under-19 World Cup in South Africa in 2020, suffered a setback after making the Black Caps in 2023 when he needed surgery for a back injury the following year.
He needed 10 months off recuperating, but was back in the squad but didn’t play when Pakistan visited for an ODI series last March.
Last year the Aucklander gazumped fellow Indian-born spinners Ajaz Patel and Ish Sodhi in gaining a Black Caps central contract last June, though both of them have since played for the national side.
Now he is likely to get his chance to show his wares.
“It’s just going to be an exciting opportunity to come to the country that really celebrates cricket.”
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
