Ravichandran Ashwin’s journey in international cricket is like a ‘roller-coaster ride’. When, like all the players, Ashwin was stuck in the lockdown caused by COVID-19 pandemic, without match practice, it actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise for him. As per his own confession, this period further helped his understanding of the game as he watched videos of individual performances of some of the greats in international cricket. When Ravindra Jadeja was playing so well as an all-rounder in limited-overs cricket in Australia recently, Ashwin was not sure of his place in the Indian team. It was only when Jadeja was injured and unfit to play Test matches that Ashwin got the chance to play in the Australia 2020-21 series. Since then it has been an upward curve for Aswin. For someone tagged as a bowler who thrives in home conditions, he performed exceptionally well on the Australian tour. From bowling before the lunch break at MCG to opening the bowling at Chennai’s Chepauk, he succeeded, always responding to the captain’s call. By claiming a fifer and scoring a century in the same Test thrice, he is behind only Ian Botham of England who has achieved this feat five times. Ashwin has claimed 400+ wickets Test cricket and 600+ wickets in all three formats at international level. When he trapped Jofra Archer at Motera in Ahmedabad, the entire stadium erupted with joy as the giant screen flashed Ashwin’s achievement of 400 Test wickets. It took him 76 Tests and he is the second fastest to enter the 400 wickets club after Muttiah Muralitharan and the fourth Indian to do so. BATTING RESURGENCE The success of Ashwin the bowler has Ashwin the batsman gain confidence. The way he maneuvered the proceedings along with Hanuma Vihari in the Sydney Test to draw the match, negotiating the Aussie bowling attack in a fighting display by taking body blows, was testimony to his grit and determination. He was even unable to stand properly and couldn’t tie his shoelaces the previous night. The innings at Sydney set the tone for his century at Chennai. Ashwin gave credit to Indian batting coach Vikram Rathour and Ajinkya Rahane for his batting resurgence. He practised the sweep shot under the guidance of the batting coach and the way he swept Pom’s spin bowlers indicates how seriously he takes his batting. The sweep shots – both conventional and reverse – against the England spinners in the Chennai Test were a treat to watch. England’s spin bowling coach lauded Ashwin’s batting skills on the turning Chepauk pitch. Ashwin, in fact, began his career as a top-order batsman and scored a double hundred in the Vijay Merchant Trophy, many yearas ago, representing Tamil Nadu Under-17s against Hyderabad. He has to his credit five tons and 11 fifties in Test cricket. He is the first Indian cricketer to score three tons as number eight batsman or lower. In the Chennai Test match India were at 106/6 in their second innings. English cricketers might have thought there was a chance of coming back into the match after conceding too many runs to the Indian first innings. But Ashwin, the all-rounder, had other Ideas. Along with skipper Virat Kohli, he swept the England bowlers and in the process Pom’s team out of the contest. He used his feet to play some big shots and by the time the innings folded, the lead had shot up to 481. Ashwin’s feat of scoring a century and bagging a fivewicket haul is the first by an Indian all-rounder in a home Test. Axar Patel played perfect foil to Ashwin in the spin bowling department and the spin twins tamed the Englishmen in both the second and third Test matches. Indian team’s victories in the second and third Tests were a great turnaround on turning pitches. The way Siraj celebrated Ashwin’s century in Chennai from the non-striker’s end shows the spirit of camaraderie in the current Indian team, which augurs well for future Indian cricket. Ashwin can walk into the Indian team with his bowling skills alone. But now that he has taken his batting so seriously, it will be an added asset to the team. Incidentally, India have won 4 out of the 5 Tests in which Ashwin has scored centuries. THE WILY SPINNER From top-order batsman to medium pacer and from there to spin bowler, Aswin’s cricketing career is a providential one. He was born a day before the tied Test began in Chennai, and since then destiny has tied him to the history of Indian cricket. Aswin, the wily spinner, has a bag of tricks. Ashwin has the carrom ball, arm ball, leg spin, top spin, googly, flipper, etc. He has a lot in his armory to deceive the batsmen and he is a complete package when it comes to spin bowling. Aswin was well aware of his home conditions in Chennai. He used the breeze and different angles, even different speeds of run-up, and all that worked because he had awareness of himself. He has become a thorn in the flesh of left handers. He has claimed the wicket of Ben Stokes 11 times, of David Warner 10 times, of Alastair Cook 9 times, of James Anderson & Ed Cown 7 times, all of them left-handers. Ashwin the all-rounder (and not the bowler this time) was adjudged as Man of the Match in the Chennai Test match in the ongoing series against England. He has won ‘Man of the Series’ awards for India in Tests 7 times. He has always enjoyed performing on big stages. For India, Ashwin is the prime bowler now spearheading the spin department and handy batsman in the lower order. There is huge competition to earn a Test cap in India and people like Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Hardik Pandya along with Ashwin are fighting for the all-rounder’s spot at international level. Among these players whoever performs consistently at the highest level and maintains fitness levels will come close to Kapil Dev, the greatest all-rounder India has produced. Ashwin is fondly called ‘Ash’ by his team mates and as ‘Astronaut’ and ‘Scientist’ by Indian team coaching heads. The spin maestro from South India never shied away from experimenting in his bowling, sometimes even going out of textbook syllabus, and he has succeeded. FUTURE STINT IN LIMITED-OVERS CRICKET Aswin is performing exceptionally well as a bowler. He has also given sterling performances with the bat. In spite of that, he couldn’t find a place in the upcoming one-day and T-20 matches against England due to huge competition from Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja. This is the beauty of Indian cricket, as talent is always knocking on the doors in different formats. PHILOSOPHY Ashwin once said, “I am someone who tries hard. When it doesn’t go my way, I try harder. A lot of my batting was about me internally thinking about what was happening with the crease, the setup, the technique and all that sort of stuff. Whereas my batting was more about hands, getting through the ball and sort of thinking tactically rather than thinking technically.” He also said, “If you want to be a beggar, you should be the world’s best beggar”. This motto pushed him to perform well at every level and every stage of his career. According to Ashwin, it is easier to become the best bowler in the world but to stay there for a long period of time is more difficult. In Ashwin’s view a spinner can become better and better as time progresses. CAPTAINCY MATERIAL The way he batted and guided Hanuma Vihari in the Sydney cricket Test and the way he controlled the proceedings even after Kohli’s dismissal in the Indian second innings at Chennai with lower-order batsmen, shows that he is captaincy material, though he has never been in contention for the captaincy slot.
The writer is a freelance journalist. [email protected]

V. NAGENDRA KUMAR