RAJKOT: As R Ashwin walked towards the bowling crease from mid-off after 11 overs of the England innings on Friday, the scoreboard read 71/0. After dismissing India for 445, England openers — Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley — had gotten off to a flying start, and Rohit turned towards the most reliable and experienced craftsman in his arsenal. India needed a wicket and Ashwin was one away from getting into the 500 club.
Everyone knew it was coming, and yet there was a sense of anticipation in the air as to when and how it was going to happen. In fact, if you ask around, every single person who has watched him and followed his career would say they expected it to have happened by now. Even his teammate and partner-in-crime Ravindra Jadeja thought so. “I thought he would complete it in the first Test,” Jadeja had said a couple of days ago.
At the start of the series, Ashwin needed ten wickets to get to 500, and Jadeja wasn’t alone in thinking what he did. After all, that is what the off-spinner’s reputation was. 490 Test wickets in 95 matches, a tad above five wickets every match in a career that has spanned just over 13 years. Fastest to get to 250, 300, and 350, second fastest to get to 400 and 450, second most player of the series awards, the list just goes on. These numbers, as phenomenal as they are, don’t do enough justice to what Ashwin has achieved.
For someone who started as a batter all through his age-group career, and who took off-spin as a primary skill much later than most international spinners would have, Ashwin made his Test debut only when he was 25. He calls himself an “accidental spinner” and rightly so. By the time Ashwin played for India, he had already won two Indian Premier League titles with Chennai Super Kings, and had five years of Ranji Trophy cricket behind him. On debut, he returned with nine wickets and the Player of the Match award as he belonged at that level. Since then, it has been a rollercoaster ride for him. He has had his share of ups and downs, and had a forgettable series here and there, but seldom has he had a year where he wasn’t good.
In the past 13 years, only twice his annual average went over 30 (not including 2024), and thrice he averaged less than 20. At home, he averages 21.30 and away 30.40. Among spinners with more than 200 wickets (at home), only Muttiah Muralitharan (19.56). And among spinners with 149 (same as Ashwin) away wickets or more, the Indian stands sixth on the list. But, all top five have played more matches than he has so far. To put his overall record into context, the bowlers above him on the all-time list — Muralitharan (20), Shane Warne (22), James Anderson (20), Anil Kumble (19), Stuart Broad (21) Glenn McGrath (23), Courtney Walsh (22), Nathan Lyon (23) — all made their debuts at a relatively younger age. Among spinners, barring Graeme Swann (29), no one else has taken 250 Test wickets while making his Test debut at an age older than Ashwin.
When it comes to India, most legendary Indian spinners have been prodigies, moving up the ranks early in their age. From Vinoo Mankad to Bishan Singh Bedi, to BS Chandrasekar and Erapalli Prasanna to Harbhajan Singh and Kumble. Which is perhaps why, watching an off-spinner like Ashwin pile on wickets every single time he turns up on the field has just become the norm. It is just what’s expected of him. The magnitude of what he has achieved at times does not hit you like a bus in India. If he has an odd off game, it will be noticed, but him taking five-six wickets every match doesn’t as much.
It would not be unfair to say that at times, Ashwin, as a spinner and his phenomenal record is taken for granted in Indian cricket. His “experiments” or the perception of him “overanalysing” dominates the discourse a tad more than his skill, craft and sheer genius he is as an off-spinner. But let's be honest, if not for the cricket nerd in him, if not for the immense love he has to play, watch and be a part of this sport, Ashwin wouldn’t have been where he is now. Swann thinks so as well. “I think his strength is that he always needs to be redeveloped and relearning and trying new things and top up this game. Other people's strengths are that they're just good at what they're doing. They're dogmatic and single-minded, but that wouldn't suit them at all. So the fact that he's able to continually tinker and adjust, but stay at a world-class level, that's the most impressive,” said the former England spinner.
On Friday, as he marked his run-up at the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot, that was expected of him as well. To stop the England openers and give India their first breakthrough. He started off with a quiet over, but even through it, every ball seemed like he was going to make something happen. And it did not take long either. On his seventh ball of the innings, he kept it fuller on Crawley’s pads — not the bestest of deliveries, but he had the field for it — and the England opener tried to sweep it only to find the top-edge. As Rajat Patidar completed the catch at fine-leg, Rohit Sharma’s arms went aloft, every one came running towards Ashwin, who had a big smile on his face high-fiving Shubman Gill at midwicket. The handshakes and hugs followed as he soaked in the moment. The dressing room was on its feet, so was the crowd in the stands. Then came the wave from him, acknowledging the applause, before going back to mark and start all over again. The job was still not done. He would try and kept going at Duckett, who scored a century, but England finished the day on 207/2, trailing by 238 runs.
As much as he downplayed the milestone moment because of the match situation, Ashwin, perhaps more than anyone else, knows what it means in the larger scheme of things, how he has had to constantly fight perceptions and where he stands among the top cricketers. He acknowledges that it is not easy to play as long as he and Nathan Lyon have as the primary finger spinner for their teams. At 37, he is content in life, and has made peace with the fact that he is not going to make everyone happy. “I can't keep proving everybody wrong or I can't prove everybody right. I'm glad that somebody is happy and somebody is not, but I need to be happy,” he says.
“I am in a really, really good space in my life and I want this to continue, and I don't want to let go of the love for the game. At one point in my life, I was in a really dark space, and I didn't want to watch the game. That's not where I want to go in my life ever again. I am happy to watch the game. Last night, I watched Afghanistan-Sri Lanka play in the third ODI highlights, I watched live New Zealand versus South Africa Test. I mean, this is who I want to be and I’m glad,” he adds with a smile.
Ask him whether surpassing Kumble’s 619 is in his mind, a clear “no” comes as an answer. “I don't know what’s in store in the next two months. You play this series, and then what lies ahead? You really don't know. So I mean, I don't want to really jump the gun. I have kept it this way for the last 4-5 years and it's been very simple. And it's worked for me. Why change anything that's working for you?” he says.
Indeed. And as long as he keeps turning up on the field, competing, trying new things and challenging the opponents, India wouldn’t want him to change either. For, there is no one like R Ashwin in Indian cricket.
