En vazhi thani vazhi (My way is a unique way) is a timeless punchline of Rajnikanth from 1999 blockbuster Padayappa. It is such a cult dialogue that when the movie re-released last December on the actor’s birthday, the audience in some theatres asked for a repeat. For Adithya Ashok, the New Zealand leg-spinner with roots in Tamil Nadu’s Vellore, it means a lot more that he has inked it in big on his bowling arm in Tamil. While the dialogue will make any Rajnikanth diehard go crazy, it holds sentimental value for him.
The reason he has inked it isn’t restricted to Rajnikanth, but because it was the last movie he watched with his grandfather during a visit to Vellore. “I remember that we had quite a personal conversation and he spoke about some of the things that mean a lot to him and kind of his values and morals as a person,” he remembers
“We were watching TV while we were speaking about it and the famous Rajini film was running in the background. That’s the origin of it. I get some questions about it, but it’s a very personal kind of thing and signifies some of the things that myself and my grandfather spoke about. That’s an everlasting memory for me, that conversation with him,” he says.
Born in Vellore, Adithya emigrated to Auckland when he was four, when his parents found job opportunities. His mother was a nurse at Auckland City Hospital, while his father worked as radiographer at a children’s hospital. Cricket became a calling card from the beginning, but he has retained connection with his hometown Vellore, which he visits every couple of years. This, though, is Adithya’s maiden tour with the Black Caps to India although he has been in Chennai before, working in the Chennai Super Kings Academy last July.
The trip was an eyeopener, he says. “The things we learned were amazing to be honest, (like) understanding how you can go about setting up batters and things like that. A lot of stuff we learned was really cool. For example black soil, red clay and red soil and how those pitches behave were big takeaways for me. It’s just kind of building my library as a cricketer, which is probably the most important thing,” Adithya says.
Rare break
Having emerged from the age-group system, the 23-year-old is down in the pecking order. With Mitchell Santner, Ajaz Patel and Ish Sodhi around, he has had to wait patiently for a breakthrough. Since his international debut in 2023, he has played only two ODIs and one T20I, with a serious back injury sidelining him for over a year. He went under the knife with the surgeon who operated on Jasprit Bumrah.
This series, thus, presents him with a rare opportunity to assert himself.“I think that’s a big thing to be around this environment and I have been really process driven. If I can go away from this series having learnt new methods or about myself as a cricketer and as a person, it will put me in a richer position. Obviously, success would be great, but I think if you’re able to remove expectation and emotions surrounding the outcome, it puts you in the best position to learn and get better. It’s an exciting opportunity to play in a country where cricket means so much, and you know where cricket is constantly buzzing,” he says.
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While trips to India have given him a good hang of how the pitches behave here, Adithya doesn’t believe that it gives him any edge. In recent times, spinners from New Zealand have enjoyed success in India across formats, with most attributing the unhelpful conditions back home as a reason for being more consistent with their line and length. Adithya sings the same rhyme, saying the conditions back home adds more depth and layers to his bowling. “Tracks in New Zealand don’t assist (spinners) much. So, accuracy, air, drift, drop, all of that should definitely be there in New Zealand. The bounce factor too. But when it comes to India, there’s a potential for a little bit more turn. The pitch will be a little low or the turn will be very aggressive on the red soil. You got to adjust,” he says.