From Selling Tea to Helping Australia Prepare For Border-Gavaskar Trophy- All You Need to Know About Ravi Ashwin Impersonator, Mahesh Pithiya

New Delhi: Spinner Mahesh Pithiya grabbed headlines on Friday, when he was seen bowling at the nets for Australia as per the Aussies’ preparation for the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy which starts from 9th Feb.

The Pat Cummins-led side are leaving no stone unturned in their preparations as they have roped in Ravichandran Ashwin impersonator- Pithiya, to get an idea of what challenges the Indian veteran spinner can bring during the tour. The Australians have released the youngster’s video on social media and since then the bowler has been the talk of the town.

Pithiya who plays for Baroda is a big fan of Ashwin and considers him his idol. So quite naturally, he has picked up his bowling action as well.

The 21-year old hails from Gujarat’s Junagadh and his father is a farm labourer. The youngster had to go through a lot during his struggling days as he had a trouble time buying food. He used to to have his meal from borrowed money. He also worked at a tea stall to meet his needs and had difficulty to buy a proper pair of shoes.

His love for Ashwin began in 2013, when he saw him for the first time during the India-West Indies series.

Due to our financial condition, I didn’t have a TV set at home. I first saw Ashwin in action live on TV at a paan stall in our town during the India-West Indies series,” Pithiya told to TOI.

“I worked at a tea stall in the Fatehgunj area for more than a year. My club helped in getting new cricketing shoes and some others generously donated cricketing gear. Playing cricket during the day and working in the evening was tough, but the struggle was worth it. My parents are very happy”, he added.

He also revealed that Baroda throwdown specialist Pritesh Joshi sent his bowling videos to the Aussies, who picked him up for their preparations. Pithiya also added that Steve Smith was heavily impressed by his bowling.