"Obviously, in the last IPL, I felt like I needed to widen my game and widen my horizons square of the wicket because I know I can hit the ball down the ground, and I can use my feet. Do I want to explore other options is something I had to ask myself. So if I can ask that question and if I can find an answer, it gives me a new avenue to explore and keep myself interested in the game."

"Look, firstly I think missing the Under-19 cut is not the end of the world. Looking at how fragile our next generation can be, I really urge people to look at this game as a part of life," Ashwin said. "Failure and success is very, very normal, and people become better only through failures. So I know P Vignesh, he has been coming to the Indian team nets, and I think he has improved every day. And this sort of a tournament gives these guys opportunity to be able to express and expand their game. I really hope that they're ready to expand it constantly, and find answers to the questions that are going to be asked."

Shahrukh: GT helped improve my game against spin

Shahrukh has often struggled against spin, especially at the start of his innings, but he has been working on a technical tweak - a trigger movement where he pushes his weight forward - and he believes this will help him be a more rounded batter.

"When I was with the Gujarat Titans, we had a camp for about a couple of months there, so I started working a lot on my spin game because they wanted me to bat up the order," Shahrukh said. "And when you bat up the order, obviously for a batter like me having my concerns against spin bowling, especially, opponent teams would bring in spin when I come out to bat.

"So their role was to help me improve my spin game, and it really helped. The front press I'm doing [in the TNPL] is quite obvious now, and it has helped me to score off the front foot and off the back foot as well."

Having lost that game to Dindigul, Shahrukh has called his team to put together their "best cricket" in their quest for a three-peat in the TNPL.

"I really don't know [about the law of averages]. We're taking it as just another game," Shahrukh said. "The law of averages and the hat-trick [of titles] all these things on social media are there, but we aren't focusing on that. Out of the eight games we've played, only in two games we've stepped up to the expectations we have as a unit.

"I hope even in this game we try and bring it out. As far as I'm concerned, we still haven't played our best cricket this year, and we will try and do that."