Stephen Fleming in all praise for R Ashwin, describes him as a ‘good student’ of the game

India's R Ashwin came in for high praise from former New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming who on Wednesday described the ace spinner as a "good student" of the game and was impressed with the way he works on creating new deliveries. According to a report in Hindustantimes, Ashwin has been one of India's prime performers with 11 wickets from five games at an economy rate of less than four in the ongoing World Cup.

"I have always been impressed with Ashwin as he is such a good student of the game with great work ethic. Look at the manner in which he creates a new delivery. He loves the game, thinks very hard. He is in a way a cricket tragic, statistically motivated," Fleming said during a promotional event of the 2015 World Cup.

"He needs confidence from the team and he gets that with seam bowlers taking wickets upfront. That enables him to attack," said Fleming, who has also been Ashwin's coach at IPL team Chennai Super Kings.

Meanwhile, veteran wicketkeeper-batsman Kumar Sangakkara on Wednesday registered three One-Day International (ODI) cricket world records -- two with the bat and one with the gloves as Sri Lanka hammered Scotland by 148 runs in a World Cup Pool A match at the Bellerive Oval here.

According to a report in Business Standard, Sangakkara, 37, once again showed his master class with a 95-ball 124. With this he became the first batsman to record four consecutive hundreds and registered his 25th ODI ton. In the process, he also became the first batsman to score four centuries in a World Cup and in an ODI tournament.

Seasoned opener Tilakaratne Dilshan (104) stroked to his 22nd ODI century and combined with Sangakkara to forge a 195-run partnership for the second wicket. It helped them post an imposing 363/9 in 50 overs.

A report in Deccan Herald says India’s good performance at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 so far has had an effect on the next big upcoming event in cricket — the Pepsi Indian Premier League (IPL).

Multi Screen Media (MSM), which has the television rights for the event, says advertisement rates for the tournament have seen a decent increase despite all the controversies.

“Contrary to all expectations, the tournament has been better for us when it comes to advertisement rates. We have witnessed a hike in advertisement rates as compared with last year and we have added more categories as well when it comes to advertisers,” MSM senior executive vice president and business head, MAX and MIX, Neeraj Vyas told Deccan Herald.