"Jacob Duffy was probably the reason scoring was kept in check": Ashwin lauds RCB pacer

Duffy took 3/22 for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Speaking to Star Sports about the Kiwi seamer, Ashwin said, "When Jacob Duffy was picked at the auction, I was probably the first one to say it was an amazing pick to replace Josh Hazlewood. At that time, he was the No.1 T20 bowler. He had also taken a six-wicket haul in a Test match and is right in the prime of his career. He has bowled a lot in New Zealand and knows exactly what he is doing."

Duffy dismissed Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head and Nitish Kumar Reddy within his first 14 deliveries in the IPL 2026.

"What really stood out is that he can swing the ball both ways, but he didn't try to do that against Abhishek Sharma. The first time he bowled full to Travis Head, he got pumped down the ground, a good lesson learned. After that, he stayed away from that length and bowled in very good areas. Tactically, RCB were superior, and he executed those plans beautifully. He was probably the reason the scoring was kept in check. With around 400 runs in the day, it was still a low-scoring game by Chinnaswamy standards," Ashwin said.

In the second match of the season, the Mumbai Indians will take on the Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.

Speaking about the match between Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders, Ashwin said, "I think Mumbai have gone back to their opening partnership of Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock that won them a title. It's a star-studded side, and one of the most exciting things I'm looking forward to is how Tilak Varma expands his credentials through this IPL. This time, I'm going with the Mumbai Indians. It's a purely cricketing call. There is too much depth in that side, while KKR have a few injury concerns and the team looks a little unsettled. They will need their spinners to step up, and I don't quite see that happening." (ANI)