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Having studied Ravichandran Ashwin up close on his first tour of India, young Australian trucker Todd Murphy wants to add an Indian Tweaker carrom ball to his tricks roll ahead of next week’s World Testing Championship final and the Ashes tournament. The 22-year-old hit 14 wickets with an average of 25.51 during a four-test streak in India earlier this year. Murphy, who is part of the Australian team that will play India in the WTC final at The Oval from June 7-11, as well as in the Ashes series, is currently in England honing his skills ahead of major events.
“I’m still working on this[carrom ball]but I’m still a long way from making it the way Ravi Ashwin does,” Murphy was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.
“In a way, it’s simple, and at the same time so difficult. It’s just the confidence that you can do it. I would like to be able to add it myself one day.
“If you have a delivery that goes in the other direction, it just creates other problems for the batsmen,” he added.
Murphy, however, said his main challenge would be to get the ball right.
“You’re always looking for ways to tinker and add things to your inventory, but in Test cricket you have to make sure your fundamentals are really good and your standard ball is in the best possible position.” As part of his analysis of Ashwin’s bowling game, Murphy froze the serve point to understand the subtle variations the Indian brought to his bowling.
“Now that’s the best part of the analysis when you have access to it all the time,” Murphy said.
“It was very interesting for me to watch things like that and get close-ups of his hand and wrist position, just to see how each ball comes out and behaves differently.
“In those circumstances, his skill sets are as good as anyone else’s, and it was surprisingly easy to see the subtle variations he can implement in sequence during his overs.” With Nathan Lyon being their best player, Murphy isn’t sure how many Tests he’ll have to play in the next couple of months.
He said he would continue to work hard so that, if the opportunity presented itself, he could grab onto it with both hands.
“Obviously at the moment Gaz (Lyon) is there and he has been so good for so long. In a way, I hope I don’t have to play the game on this tour because it means he stays in shape and in the park. and our fast ones get up too,” Murphy said.
“It’s a team mentality. I hope I can add value to the team, train hard and keep developing my skills. If an opportunity arises, I have to make sure I’m in a really good position to take it.”
“I always have to be ready. A lot can change, and it can change quickly.”
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