The curious case of Ravichandran Ashwin
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At the Basin Reserve, the clock in the Indian dressing room was running backwards and none had a clue on what was happening or why it was happening. Virat Kohli and the management turned back the clock by picking up Ravichandran Ashwin in the playing XI ahead of the in-form Ravindra Jadeja.
On the morning of February 14, 2014, in Wellington, MS Dhoni walked out to the middle alongside Brendon McCullum for the toss. A week earlier, India were edged by the home side in a thriller in Auckland by 40 runs. For Dhoni and co, they were so close to winning a Test against New Zealand yet were ways away from doing that on a regular basis. On a swinging and seaming condition in Wellington, the talks were that India would feature an all-out pace attack, one they have not done in ages. One man that stopped them from doing that, Jadeja, after bringing the extra-edge in the playing XI with his batting prowess. So the question remained, whether India would drop Jadeja for a pacer or maintain the long-batting unit.
The coin came hurling down, with MS Dhoni opting to field first in Wellington. The lips read, “We are going with the same team, no changes.” A few metres from the playing field, in the dugout, sat an anxious Ravichandran Ashwin. Since making his debut in 2011, the lanky spinner made a name for himself, turning it haphazard both ways. His off-spinners, being his staple diet caught the batsmen prodding on the front way - leaving them confused on whether to commit or to leave it alone.
While he was not satisfied with just his staple diet, his special ones, the ‘carrom-ball’ left the others unaware, sometimes even doubt their ability as a batsman. In just three years, the result, inevitable - 104 wickets. Only two times till then, the lanky spinner was on the flight and on the playing XI sheet, in the series against Australia and South Africa. While the impact was immediate in Australia, its after-effects left the Indian management in a rather-poor after taste. And in South Africa, 42 overs were given for Ashwin to make one final case on why he should be picked abroad ahead of the others. He failed, conceding 108 runs, but in Test matches, runs are never the factor but the column on the right - wickets that matter. It was empty and so was Ashwin following his second away tour in South Africa.
India’s next away tour- England, where Ashwin was yet again on the flight. In two games, at Manchester and The Oval, the lanky pacer was found out yet again against an ailing English side - consisting of Sam Robson and Gary Ballance in the top three. In Manchester, the duo of Jadeja and Ashwin played together - bowling in tandem to account for just one English wicket, with James Anderson caught right in front. At the Oval, Ashwin plotted the east-sided Ballance and west-sided Moeen Ali’s downfall. The finishing touches - of course, James Anderson yet again. Since then, the Chennai spinner has picked up 111 wickets outside India, in 28 Test matches.
Ravichandran Ashwin's victims countrywise © ESPNCricinfoIn India, in 43 appearances, he has picked up 254, which is twice and 34 more than the tally away from India. And the numbers fall down in SENA countries (South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia), where he has picked up 51 wickets, which is not a bad number but becomes bad when 14 Tests are next to it on the left. His average falls down to 40 after his better-than-average performance in New Zealand, with the lanky spinner averaging nearly 48, 33, 46 in Australia, England and South Africa respectively. In those countries, more often than not, the 33-year-old has served as India’s solitary spinner and only sometimes in the duo with other spinners.
While India have largely benefited with a two-spinner combination in India, sometimes three and more, away from home, it has not been effective - just like the openers. While India have at least looked in the direction to sort their opening worries - in the spin department, they do not have many options with Ashwin and Jadeja being the two big horses. When Sri Lanka played two spinners in South Africa - questions were pointed at them to look into other team’s spinning struggle in the African nation. The same about Yasir Shah, twice outperforming the English batsmen in Lord’s and The Oval.
In 2018, a rejuvenated Ashwin was once again the focal point of India’s trip to South Africa, being the only spinner on the pitch. Two left-handed batsmen - Kagiso Rabada and Morne Morkel were victims of Ashwin’s vicious spin? No, by then, South Africa had already put 280 runs on board and were just going for the extra-runs and got out. Never in the game did Ashwin have a chance or two at troubling the batsmen - with the simple fact that he was playing a support role. Once again, in England, he played the same role.
In the first Test, he picked up seven wickets, playing in a more attacking role and in the second he went back to being in a supporting role. Every time the offie plays a supporting role to any bowler, the performance goes down. Since the Birmingham Test, he picked four wickets in five innings, wherein he picked up four in the same innings against West Indies two months later.
Meanwhile, with all talks surrounding his bowling, as a batsman, he started off strong with his backlift often getting the comparison with VVS Laxman. The Iconic batsmen from Hyderabad had a certain knack of having a higher backlift and yet finding more than enough spots to get the ball to the boundary. In just his first year, he averaged 37, with a century under his belt. Ashwin, from his junior days, was an opening batsman and had the right technique to challenge for the opening spot before his place was taken by the now-certain Rohit Sharma during junior days. For a bowling all-rounder, the number was a pretty one, pretty certain of getting you a place in any side around the world.
And, in India, it was no different, with Ashwin quickly becoming the name and age of the spin attack. Slowly yet steadily, he started batting and battling all the odds to become one of the top all-rounders in World cricket alongside Ravindra Jadeja at home. His bowling curve outside Asia and his batting since 2017 saw a similar route.
It kept going down and downwards curve is never a positive one, for an all-rounder of Ashwin’s calibre. He admitted that it was because of lack of intent, because of the respect that he dearly paid to the bowlers around the globe. There was, however, no looking back from it, as it started getting to the Chennai man himself. In contrast, a certain Jadeja provided India with a much more all-rounded performance, beginning from the bat to the field. Jadeja was the powerhouse that even the Australian dream team never had. And if he was born a decade earlier, that era would have celebrated to have an all-rounder of that nature.
Ravindra Jadeja with the bat since 2017 © ESPNCricinfoWhile in conditions away from home, Jadeja could play the right role - of playing as a support-bowler to the pace troika, at home his partnership with Ashwin unparalleled to in World cricket. At the same time when a struggling Ashwin was picked, Jadeja was averaging 41 and the better years were yet to come. In 2018 and 19, he averaged 45.6 and 62.85 which ironically included an 86* against England at The Oval. And, once again, when he was called up in 2019, at the SCG, he scored 81, stitching a brilliant partnership with Rishabh Pant. Jadeja’s dismissal has come every 79th delivery against Ashwin’s 33. If the conditions are not spin-friendly, as it has been in the First Test and is predicted to be in the second, playing Ashwin will only outbreak the existing criticism.
