NEW DELHI: It was a rather amusing sight to see clueless West Indies batsmen dancing to Ravichandran Ashwin‘s tune in the first Test at Roseau, Dominica, which India won by a massive margin of an innings and 141 runs inside three days.
On a surprisingly spin-friendly track on which the ball spun from Day One, and against a lame batting line-up, Ashwin coasted to a match haul of 12 for 131 to make sure that the Indian team had an extra two days of rest, relaxation and fun in the Caribbean before the second Test at Port-of-Spain.
While the pitch was more than helpful and the batsmen were like sitting ducks, his performance only went on to reiterate the fact that Ashwin remains India’s biggest match-winner since Anil Kumble and the biggest threat India can present to international batting line-ups in Test cricket.
And that brings us back to the question: Why was he not played in the all-important World Test Championship final against Australia recently? The more one thinks about, the more baffled one gets over the decision of the team management.
India played Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur and Ravindra Jadeja as the five bowlers in that game at the Oval in London. While Shami, Siraj and Jadeja were automatic picks, to play Yadav and Thakur ahead of Ashwin was more than a surprise, especially Yadav.
Did the team think-tank actually believe that Yadav and Thakur had a better chance of taking wickets in the conditions that prevailed at the Oval than Ashwin, the No. 1 Test bowler in the world? Going by cricketing logic, the probability of something like that happening was very low.
In fact, between the two spinners also, on a track where the ball isn’t turning much, Ashwin should be preferred to Jadeja simply because Jadeja’s efficacy as a wicket-taker goes down in good measure if the ball isn’t spinning. He is deadly on the dust-bowls of India but since he doesn’t have many dimensions to his bowling, it’s difficult for Jadeja to create wicket-taking opportunities outside of the subcontinent.
Ashwin, too, doesn’t have a great overseas record. But he is a thinking cricketer who keeps working on his game to become better and better. He has developed skills to trouble batsmen on most surfaces.
The fact that he can bowls four or five different deliveries in an over keeps the batsman guessing. He can also use the rough created by the pacers on both sides of the stumps as he often bowls wide of the stumps to entice the batsman. The off-spinner’s ability to turn the ball the other way helps him befuddle batter s. On a placid track, this is a very useful skill to have. And this is something wicket-to-wicket bowlers cannot do.
Ashwin is a highly competitive cricketer who loves challenges and who has the wherewithal to respond to them effectively.
At 36, he is probably bowling better than ever. A red-ball champion, he has even challenged himself to become better in white-ball cricket at this ripe age. His performances in ODIs, T20Is and IPL in recent times amply prove his commitment, his sense of excellence and his will to win. Whatever the format, Ashwin will give you his 100%, you can be sure of that.
To make a player of his class, experience and spirit to sit out of a marquee game like the WTC final was a blunder which the team management cannot shy away from. India should have given themselves the best chance of winning the coveted title but by not picking Ashwin, they began with a handicap against a team which will never give you any quarters.
This was not the first time that Ashwin was controversially left out of the playing eleven. He was carrying the hurt inside him for quite some time. The WTC episode forced the floodgates to open and he spoke about his deep disappointment at being dropped for the Oval tie. He also hinted at a friendless environment within the team. One can only sympathize with him.
In fact, you cannot blame Ashwin if he feels aggrieved that Ajinkya Rahane, who has made a return to the Test team after a gap of one and a half years, and not him was named vice-captain for the West Indies Test tour.
