Mahesh Pithiya, a “Ashwin duplicate,” is recalled by Australia prior to the ODI World Cup, but the Baroda spinner denies the invitation.

Mahesh Pithiya, an off-spinner for Baroda, collaborated closely with the Australian team during the previous Border-Gavaskar Trophy competition. The aim was to bring him on board to learn how to handle the renowned Indian spinner because of how similar his bowling motion is to that of Ravichandran Ashwin. The Border-Gavaskar Trophy, however, was a failure for Australia because Ashwin finished with the most wickets.

The Australian team management urged Mahesh Pithiya to re-join the squad prior to their significant encounter against the hosts on October 8 in preparation for the 2017 ODI World Cup, which is scheduled to begin on October 5. The 21-year-old turned down the opportunity, explaining that he wanted to concentrate more on the domestic season than international commitments after speaking with Baroda bowling coach S Aravind.

It was undoubtedly an intriguing offer, but I am also a part of the Baroda team for the domestic season, which starts the following month. So I gave it some thinking, talked to our coach, and told them I wouldn’t be able to attend the camp this time, Mahesh Pithiya told Sportstar.

Mahesh Pithiya further revealed that although he was not a part of the plans, he received the invitation to join the team by October 4 in Chennai as soon as Ravichandran Ashwin’s selection for the ODI World Cup was announced by the BCCI.

“I received the call as soon as the BCCI declared Ashwin as Axar’s successor. Although working with foreign teams is always interesting, domestic cricket is my top priority. I have progressed so much since I play for Baroda, therefore I decided to concentrate on improving my game rather than join the Australian squad before a long season.

On the other side, rain forced Australia to cancel its first pregame match with the Netherlands. Prior to the arrival of rain, Mitchell Starc recorded a stunning hat-trick while batters like Steven Smith and Cameron Green showed promise.