India had an impressive win in the Test series against England in Ranchi, winning the fourth Test by a margin of five wickets. However, the victory was not an easy one as the visiting team gained a 46-point lead and held the advantage until the start of the second inning. Conventional wisdom had it that England would stand their ground and try to record a record win total. However, all the dreams they were enjoying in this regard were shattered by Ravichandran Ashwin. He sprinted through their top order and was so bad that he was sent off for a paltry 145 in his second innings. After this, India's victory became a mere formality, although the hosts had to overcome several tense moments before crossing the finish line.
There was a certain amount of poetic justice in the fact that Ashwin was the man at the moment when India took the lead in the Ranchi case. He crossed the landmark of 500 Test wickets in the third match at Rajkot and also showed his strength of character, running to his ailing mother's side during the match. That he returned to take part in that Test and subsequent Tests is testament to his dedication to the game and the pride he takes in wearing the national colours.
Ashwin is the first player to break into the national team through the Indian Premier League (IPL) route. He started as an opening batsman and also played in this position for India's U-17 team. He also tried his hand as a medium pacer before eventually turning to off-spin bowling and quickly found success. He made his first-class debut for his home state of Tamil Nadu in 2006, but his career really took off three years later when he received a call-up from Chennai Super Kings (CSK). It was a time when his fortunes changed for the better. He caught the eye of then chief selector Krishnamachari Srikanth and national team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, both of whom had links with the IPL franchisee. CSK performed well in the 2009 and 2010 IPL, impressing everyone with his economic performance and earning him a call-up to the national team.
Initially, Ashwin's bowling style was thought to be best suited for the limited overs version of the game. He made his first appearance in a One-Day International (ODI) against Sri Lanka in Harare in June 2010, and soon after represented his country in a T20 International. Although he was a member of his 2011 International Cricket Council World Cup enlivening team, he only appeared in a few matches. After this championship, he established himself as a regular member of the playing eleven and quickly became the top wicket-taker. This development has given selectors and team management fresh consideration on how to utilize his abilities. '
After this reconsideration, Ashwin entered the world of Test cricket with a rake. It happened in 2011 when West Indies toured India. He scored 6/47 in the second innings of the match in this version and showed his mettle without wasting his time. First test. He was also named Player of the Match for his match performance of 9/128. Ashwin soon proved that this was not his one-off performance, as in his first 16 Tests he took 5 wickets and his haul in his 9th.
After this explosive start, there was no turning back as Ashwin became the captain's 'go-to' bowler who ran through the opposition half. He rapidly grew in stature and soon replaced Harbhajan Singh as India's frontline spin bowler. His record fell by the wayside as he started taking dozens of wickets in Test matches. He became the fastest bowler in history to reach the landmark of 300 Test wickets and he was second only to Muttiah Muralitharan in speed to reach the landmark of 400 his wickets. After climbing the next peak of 500 wickets, he ranks ninth on the list of all-time highest wicket-takers after Anil Kumble in total number of Test casualties among Indian cricketers.
Ashwin possesses all the weapons in an off-spinner's repertoire and makes good use of his excellent control at the off-break. Despite his height (6 feet 2 inches), he drives the ball and uses his variation to keep hitters guessing. He has a wicked arm ball and even does a leg break and a googly. One of the interesting innovations he brought to international cricket was the 'carom ball'. This is a modification of the “thoduku ball,'' a finger-flicked leg break used in cricket played on the streets of Chennai. One of his off-spin bowlers he is trying to stop bowling is 'Dusra'. Because he feels that he cannot bend and straighten his arms quickly.
A graduate in Information Technology from the SSN College of Engineering, Ashwin follows a rich tradition of academically brilliant world-class spin bowlers from South India. Ellapalli Prasanna, Srinivas Venkataraghavan and Anil Kumble were also qualified engineers who could use their great intelligence to not only outwit batsmen but also hone their skills as bowlers. Ashwin belongs to the same category as these stalwarts and can accurately be called a bowler who used his head effectively to rise to the top of the world rankings.
At this point, we must not forget that Ashwin has also done justice to his talent as a batsman. He flourished with his five centuries and 14 fifties in Tests and so far he has scored over 3,300 runs and is eligible for the title of all-rounder. There were very few situations where he needed to show his skill as a willow user, and I have to admit that it was counterproductive to accumulating more points to his name. However, he rose to the task whenever the situation required. In the third Test of the 2021 series between Australia and Sydney, he played gamely alongside the injured Hanuma Vihari and helped India survive a charged Australian attack in the 42nd over. Save the match. He is a safe fielder deep.
One of the criticisms that Ashwin has had to face throughout most of his career has to do with his inability to win matches outside India. He played 59 Tests at home and 40 overseas, but of his 507 wickets, only 153 came on the pitch overseas. His strike rate of 46.62 in India drops to 62.16 abroad. Of the 35 times he has taken five or more wickets in an innings, only eight were at overseas grounds. Moreover, six of the eight matches in which he has taken 10 or more wickets have come in India. So while he is a recognized match-winner in India, it is clear that his abilities in this regard are lesser when playing outside India. In this respect, he is one or two places below Prasanna and Venkataraghavan, two of the great off-spinners of the past, who could run through the wings and win matches in other countries as well.
In a column written after Ashwin achieved the landmark of 500 Test wickets, Sunil Gavaskar said the off-spinner should have been rewarded with captaincy of the national team two years ago. This raises the question of why he was not considered for appointment as captain. There is no doubt that he has all the qualities of a good leader, besides having a good cricket mind, commanding the respect of his teammates and having a strong backer in the Board of Control for Cricket in India. There's no room. The only ostensible reason could have been his poor performance while playing abroad, so he was not expected to be automatically selected into the playing eleven during the tour. If he could solve the mystery that made him relatively ineffective while on tour, he would have led his country for at least a few seasons.
At 37, Ashwin's best days are behind him. However, his pride in his skill, combined with his determination and enthusiasm for his performance, ensure that he remains in the consideration of selection committees when selecting members of the national team. It is to his credit that he maintained the highest fitness level throughout his career and contributed to the team's cause in every match he played, even if his ball handling was not the best. As long as he maintains the motivation to continue playing, he will continue to be a part of the team and lead the team in home games.
Ashwin started his Test career at a rather late age of 25 years. However, he made up for this slow start by arriving at various landmarks twice as fast as he did. The next target in his sights will be Kumble's Indian record 619 Test wickets. We can be reasonably sure that Ashwin won't drop his bowling skills until he reaches that magical figure of 620 wickets.
The last match of the ongoing series in Dharamshala will be Ashwin's 100th Test. This column congratulates him on reaching this landmark and joins the millions of cricket lovers in this country in wishing him further contributions to Indian cricket.
(The author is a former international cricket umpire and high-ranking bureaucrat)
