In an engaging Q&A session with ESPNCricinfo, legendary Indian cricketer Cheteshwar Pujara has picked Ravichandran Ashwin as the most likely Indian teammate who could be India’s coach in the future.
Indian players turning to a coaching role has not been a new trend in Indian cricket, as several greats of the team like Kapil Dev, Ravi Shastri, Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble, VVS Laxman, and most recently Rahul Dravid and Gautam Gambhir, have all taken up coaching roles with either franchise teams or even the National team.
On the other hand, many legends of the game, like Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, or MS Dhoni, have never been seen inclined towards a coaching role, despite their deep-rooted understanding of the game.
Cheteshwar Pujara foresees CSK Star as the upcoming Indian Coach ahead of the Asia Cup 2025
Legend Cheteshwar Pujara can easily be picked as one of the greatest players to have represented India in the longest format of the game.
Though the batter’s abilities have mostly remained confined to the Test format, he, now as a cricket analyst, has picked one of his former teammates to be the most likely choice for being the Indian coach in the future.
Ahead of the Asia Cup 2025, when Pujara was interviewed in a rapid-fire round at ESPNCricinfo, he was asked to pick one of his teammates who could be seen in the role of India’s coach in the future.
Pujara quickly picked former veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and named him as a future candidate for the Head coach role. It cannot be denied that the CSK star has immense knowledge of the game and its strategies, having played most of his matches under the shadow of the country’s best skipper, MS Dhoni.
Pujara has quirky answers up his sleeves in the ESPNCricinfo interview
Though Pujara might be a very quiet man, he has shown his quirky side in the latest interview with ESPNCricinfo, where he almost ate his teammates and left no crumbs. All secrets were revealed as he disclosed some close traits of his former teammates.
When asked who could spend most of an entire day in the gym, he answered Virat Kohli, which sits nicely with the veteran’s fitness regime. He funnily named Shikhar Dhawan as a teammate who is most likely to star in a reality show.
KL Rahul was picked among his teammates who would be most likely to attend a Taylor Swift concert. He once again picked Ashwin as the man he could discuss cricket 24/7 with, and Kohli as the player who could finish with all the records.
Lastly, he picked Rishabh Pant as the notorious one on the side, as he picked him for being most likely to watch videos on the phone when not supposed to.
He next named the three legends: Sachin Tendulkar for treating his bat with utmost care, MS Dhoni for being likely to dye his hair blue, and lastly Rahul Dravid for giving the best gifts.
Ashwin has been amid controversies, the latest being with the CSK management
Ravichandran Ashwin has been in the buzz recently for his controversial take on the CSK management ahead of the Asia Cup 2025. Speaking of Dewald Brevis, he mentioned that Brevis was included with a higher pay to clarify the doubts of people who are confused about why the Protea batter was signed for 2.20 crores despite his base price being INR 75 lakhs.
For mid-season inclusions, unsold players are not bought on their base price; rather, the management has to negotiate with the players’ agents, and CSK too settled for a price the same as the auction bid of the injured pacer Gurjapneet Singh.
However, Ashwin has clarified that he had no intent to accuse CSK of any wrongdoing, nor did he do that; his words were, in turn, minced to turn it into a controversy. He mentioned that he attempted only to clear the air and not accuse the management of anything.