Rahul Dravid's dig at R Ashwin: 'Coaching Aussies? Mitchell Starc knows Tamil'

NEW DELHI: Former India head coach Rahul Dravid and senior spinner Ravichandran Ashwin revisited a controversial moment from the 2023 Border-Gavaskar Trophy during the latest episode of Kutti Stories with Ash. The incident revolved around Ashwin facing backlash for allegedly helping Australia through a Tamil-language YouTube video on playing spin in India.The controversy erupted after Ashwin uploaded the video following Australia’s defeat in the second Test. The criticism intensified when India lost the third Test at Indore, with social media users accusing Ashwin of “coaching” the opposition. The channel was eventually forced to change the video’s thumbnail.Dravid light-heartedly brought up the episode with Ashwin."You even coached the Australian team. I got sent a clip. Unfortunately, it was in Tamil. So that's the one I've seen about you. You're speaking in Tamil and with a little bit of Tamil that I understand, you're coaching the Australian team in the middle of the Australian series, how to play spin. And I'm thinking, Ash, the series is not over," Dravid said.Ashwin responded in his defence: "If I knew how to do that, I would have told our boys how to play spin. I mean, why would I go and tell the Aussies?"Dravid admitted he was joking but also revealed he too had faced flak at the time. "The flak I got was 'Ashwin is coaching better than you are — what are you doing?'" he said with a laugh.Ashwin also recalled a conversation with Mitchell Starc during the Indore Test: "An interesting thing was that (Mitchell) Starc came and told me. I mean, he bowled a bumper, and I just left it in the Indore Test match. I think we were 80 for 7 or something. We went for lunch, and he was walking with me. He was like, 'Can I tell you how to play the bouncer like your YouTube video?'"Dravid further joked that the Australians might have found a translator: "It's good to know that Starc knows Tamil. I think it was maybe the Australian guys got some Tamil guy to sort of..." he said, before Ashwin clarified that the video carried subtitles.