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Business News/ News / Business Of Life/  India need Ashwin to spin his web
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India need Ashwin to spin his web

Hopes of that elusive Test victory against South Africa rest on this Chennai off-spinner

Ashwin during the second Test against South Africa last week. Photo: Manjunath Kiran/AFPPremium
Ashwin during the second Test against South Africa last week. Photo: Manjunath Kiran/AFP

NEW DELHI :

Of all the cricketers who are still in action, no one has more international wickets than Harbhajan Singh. Yet when India played the first Test against South Africa in Mohali, the home ground of India’s most successful off-spinner, his absence was not noticed. For India had an able and equally accomplished replacement in R. Ashwin.

The gradual decline of Singh’s Test career coincides with the emergence of Ashwin. The Chennai off-spinner, in fact, celebrated two of his most significant Test landmarks at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali earlier this month. Ashwin not only reached a figure of 100 Test wickets at home but also became the fourth quickest in history (and the first Indian to achieve it in less than 30 matches) to enter the 150 Test wickets club. Among contemporaries, only South Africa’s Dale Steyn and Pakistan’s Saeed Ajmal have achieved the feat, both in 29 Test matches.

“He should treat each milestone as a target for success," says former India player and spin legend Erapalli Prasanna. “Immediately after 150, he has now gone past Venkat (Srinivas Venkataraghavan; 156) in Bengaluru (in the second Test) and then will surpass me (189). Then, the challenge will be to go past Chandra (Bhagwath Chandrasekhar; 242), Bedi (Bishan Bedi; 266) and who knows, even (Anil) Kumble (619). Right now, he is the best spinner in the world and has the potential to become one of the best of all times."

Ashwin is still in the early stages of his career, but he’s already among India’s top 15 leading wicket-takers of all time. And by the time this series ends, he is likely to be among the all-time top 10.

“I think it (the numbers, the milestones) will mean something to me when I finish playing the game but, at this stage, no," Ashwin said in a September interview on the Wisden India website. “If you attach a lot of importance to these numbers, I think you are starting to get content. But tomorrow, when my daughter grows up and I can tell her that I got so many wickets, that will be okay."

The numbers do mean a lot to the Indian cricket team, which has started relying heavily on Ashwin for its Test wickets. He is among the top five bowlers in the International Cricket Council’s (ICC’s) latest Test rankings; the next Indian in the list is Ravindra Jadeja, at No.13.

The 29-year-old is the only bowler in the world to feature in the top 10 ICC rankings in each format.

Just two months ago, Ashwin had his best away series—21 wickets in three Tests—in Sri Lanka, helping India win a series after a gap of 21 years. Only in his 10th series, he was selected Man of the Series for the fourth time; a staggering feat, considering that among Indians, only Virender Sehwag (five in 38 Test series) and Sachin Tendulkar (five in 66 series) have won more.

Home or away, Tests, One Day Internationals (ODIs) or Twenty20s, Ashwin has been the go-to man for his skippers M.S. Dhoni and Virat Kohli this year. He has now acquired a Kumble-like aura, especially in home conditions.

“Ashwin is our main threat, but we will plan really well. The way we play Ashwin in this series will definitely determine our success in this series," South Africa’s batsman Faf du Plessis said at a press conference in Mohali.

“He is a very intelligent and smart cricketer. He also adapts quickly in each format and I do believe that this series could be decided on who wins the (A.B.) de Villiers versus Ashwin contest," says former India captain and chief selector K. Srikkanth, who has been seeing Ashwin at close quarters since the latter’s Chennai under-16 days.

Some observers have also noticed a subtle technical adjustment in Ashwin’s bowling.

“His wrist is in a better position now, directed towards fine leg, and the fingers are running over the seam (as opposed to when they were slightly under and to the side)," wrote former India player Sanjay Manjrekar in his column for Espncricinfo.com. “This is giving him more bounce."

West Indies batsman Chris Gayle, who was in New Delhi recently, said: “I think his mind thinks as a batsman as well because he is himself a capable batsman. His reading of batsmen is very good because of his great experience of the IPL (Indian Premier League), where batsmen look to attack him."

Ashwin was first picked for India after glimpses of his talent showed through in the IPL; now, he is considered a Test purist.

“Ashwin is a blend of Venkataraghavan and me," Prasanna says. “His height is like Venkat and he has the same control over his line and length. He attempts to flight like me and even though the loop is not exactly similar, he can turn the ball like me."

Perhaps Ashwin’s greatest strength is his self-confidence, and willingness to learn from failure. “He has given up his ‘carrom ball’, uses it sparingly, sets fields for himself and mostly bowls one side of the wicket. In short, he has started bowling within his limitations," says Prasanna.

In the two remaining Tests in home conditions, Ashwin will look to continue his menacing form, and India could well get an elusive series victory against the toughest Test side in the world today.

Vimal Kumar is the author of Sachin: Cricketer Of The Century and The Cricket Fanatic’s Essential Guide.

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Published: 18 Nov 2015, 08:54 PM IST
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