Ravichandran Ashwin shares tricks of the trade with Bangladesh's Mehedi Hasan

Mumbai: Mehedi Hasan’s international career may be just five Tests old, but the Bangladesh tweaker is already picking up the tricks of the trade – none other than from star India bowler Ravichandran Ashwin.

Mehedi has already picked up 25 wickets from his five Tests, with his best figures coming in the Mirpur Test against England, where he picked up six wickets in each innings, last year.

Hasan struggled in the one-off Test against India in Hyderabad earlier this week, managing to pick up only two wickets in the match. However, the 19-year-old took away a few positives from the game, or rather his post-match interaction with Ashwin.

The two spinners were seen discussing the finer points of the game, after India completed a 208-run win over Bangladesh, on Monday, at the Uppal Stadium, in Hyderabad.

Mehedi revealed after the match, that he is a huge fan of Ashwin’s bowling, and has been following the Chennai-lad’s matches quite closely.

“He is the world’s No. 1 bowler. I follow his bowling closely to see what he does in different situations. How he sets up a batsman and how he plans for his wickets. Whenever India play, I watch the match for him,” Mehedi said to BCCI.tv.

“I was looking forward to meet him ever since the time we landed in India. After the match, I asked him how to handle certain situations. I have no experience of match situations. He encouraged me. He said I had the potential to have a long and successful international career and advised me to work really hard. He has so many variations, so I asked him about his different deliveries,” he continued.

Not only did Mehedi meet Ashwin after the game, but he also had a little interaction with India skipper Virat Kohli.

“I am very happy today that I got to meet Ashwin and even Virat Kohli later. Ashwin has done so well in the last few years and has so much experience. I had an excellent time with him. His tips are going to be very useful,” said Kohli.

The 19-year-old tweaker also went on to reveal a small piece of advice he received from Ashwin: “I have a high arm action and can bowl in good areas, which are my plus points. I want to add more variety and vary my pace. I spoke to Ashwin about it. He told me to stick to my strengths. His advice was to follow my instincts and bowl in the manner I feel most comfortable in.”