CHENNAI: As Team India boarded an Adelaide-bound flight from Sydney, flashes of 2014 might have replayed in Ravichandran Ashwin’s mind. It was there that he had bowled countless deliveries during the first Test of that tour, refusing to part with the ball. Only thing is, all that happened in the nets; during lunch, tea, and even when his team was batting. He would take along bowling coach Bharathi Arun, peppering him with plenty of questions and learning some hard lessons.
That omission acted as a catalyst of change for Ashwin. From there on, he brought out plenty of changes — from loading to body alignment and position of his non-bowling arm in his run-up — in his efforts to be the best in the world.
What unfolded in Adelaide that year was more of a chain reaction caused by what had unfolded throughout the previous tours of that year. Inconsistent and often guilty of operating on defensive lines, many saw had seen his exclusion coming.
But in that series, Ashwin had established his target. Since then, no spinner has taken more wickets than his 217 (40 matches). Those have come at a solid average of 22.58. In this time-frame, Ashwin is the only spinner with a strike rate of below 50 (48.3). All these numbers coming in the days of Nathan Lyon, Rangana Herath, Ravindra Jadeja and Yasir Shah does tell a story or two about the off-spinner.
Sure, the numbers have changed. But doubts still persist. He is coming in with high confidence after South Africa and England (he started off well before injury hampered his performance). But, Ashwin has already been confronted with the question as to whether he might try and learn tricks from Lyon, a more conventional tweaker who relies more on over spin than side spin. That, and his stupendous bowling success in Australia.
Among all the specialist spinners to have bowled in Australia, Lyon is the lone off-spinner with solid credentials. Among the top wicket-taking spinners, Lyon sits second behind Shane Warne (way above him), and is above the illustrious likes of Stuart MacGill, Clarrie Grimmett and Richie Benaud. It is quite remarkable that a finger-spinner has managed to strike gold in country that has traditionally assisted wrist-spinners.
Former India spinner Maninder Singh ascribes Lyon’s success Down Under to the spinner’s acceptance that he has to operate on batting-friendly pitches that won’t provide assistance to his ilk. “He grew up bowling on those pitches. From whatever I’ve seen of him, he doesn’t rely on them. But, Ashwin gives the impression that he needs assistance from the surface. Saying that, I believe Ashwin too can bowl on any surface. It is just that he needs to believe that he can be successful even in batting-friendly conditions.”
There is off course the small matter of adjustment with regards to getting the pace right — Ashwin was working on it a month ago — and finding the right rhythm. In South Africa and England, Ashwin showed that he was cut from a different cloth when he was asked to go for wickets.
The other notable change in Ashwin’s overseas bowling this year is that he has seldom been told to operate on defensive lines. In Australia, he has to find the right spot to land balls on; an aspect Ashwin himself admitted about learning from Lyon. Those areas invariably fall outside off-stump. And unlike Ashwin, the Aussie seldom relies on a channel that targets the stumps.
“If Ashwin needs to be successful, he needs to bowl without a leg slip. India captains have always counted on that fielder. But if (Virat) Kohli wants Ashwin to be a strike bowler, he has to do away with the leg slip. When he isn’t there, you can see Ashwin automatically changing his line. If a straighter one comes in, regular slips will come into play,” Singh explained.