Will use suggestions by Ashwin at World Cup: Mujeeb

Afghanistan spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman on Tuesday said that he has had discussions with Ravichandran Ashwin throughout the IPL about his bowling and will be taking the latter's suggestions to the World Cup.

"Ashwin is a great bowler. His carrom ball is incredible and he has a lot of variations. I have discussed a lot of things with him and will be applying it in the World Cup," said the 18-year-old at Afghanistan's World Cup jersey launch in New Delhi.

Mujeeb however clarified that he has not had specific discussions with Ashwin, his captain at Kings XI Punjab, about bowling in England or the World Cup and was mostly focussed on the Indian Premier League (IPL). Mujeeb said that he has prior experience of bowling in England which should help him in June.

"I have bowled there earlier and am familiar with the conditions. If I manage to hit the right areas and stick to the plan that the captain and the coaching staff devise then it will go well for me," he said.

Both players had spoken earlier about how they have fed off each other while playing for KXIP. Mujeeb said that after the 2018 season he saw Ashwin as a mentor and will be using a "new delivery" that he learnt from him. Ashwin on the other hand said that he had learnt the reverse under-cutter from Mujeeb which works pretty well in the shortest format of the game.

Mujeeb had suffered a shoulder injury while fielding during KXIP's match against Rajasthan Royals on April 16 and had to sit out the next two matches. He returned in a match against Sunrisers Hyderabad in which a ballistic David Warner tore into him. He ended the match with figures of 0/66, the worst ever by a spinner in IPL history. However, Mujeeb said that he is now fit and ready to go in England.

"I had suffered a shoulder injury. Since then I have recuperated well and am fit enough to play at the World Cup," he said.

-- IANS

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