Ravichandran Ashwin: Anatomy of a performer

“He might not stand out like other players in the Indian squad. You might not find his face on billboards across India. But he has been a very important player for India.”

One couldn’t help but agree with former England cricketer Mark Butcher’s words for the best all-round performer in this Test series. England and India fans have had little to agree upon over the last one month. But if they were to agree on one thing, it had to be this.

In the 21st century, cricket in India attracts a spotlight like no other. The cameras and the glitz cannot be separated from the life of an Indian cricketer. And even though, there’s nothing wrong with them, Ravichandran Ashwin has shown that you can make it to the top without looking for much of it.

At 34, Ashwin has displayed what he is all about. What he has always been about. Bowling, batting, and doing these two things with an inventive and learning nature.

But, what do we find when we embark deep on the journey to discover what’s special about Ravichandran Ashwin?

“He (Ashwin) is a scientist when he gets the ball,” said former England captain Michael Vaughan (on Cricbuzz).

While Ashwin has kept his interest in finding life on Mars to himself, he is someone who likes to discover and learn new things about what he does. A curious brain. Constantly experimenting and unsurprisingly getting the right results.

Former Indian cricketer turned broadcaster, Sanjay Manjrekar called Ashwin, an artist. And who can deny that after watching the latter working on his craft?

Though there aren’t many things common between a scientist and an artist, Ashwin is a perfect marriage of the two. A recent incident will help better understand this than me throwing some more fancy adjectives.

In the second Test at Chennai, England had lost four wickets with just 39 runs on the board, trailing by 290. Ben Stokes though looked like he was in it for the long haul. Batting at 18 runs off 32 balls, Stokes looked comparatively comfortable than his England teammates. He would end up in the pavilion two deliveries later.

Bowling round the wicket, Ashwin pushed Stokes on the back foot with a good length delivery. The next one was drifted onto the middle stump from a high-arm angle. The England all-rounder tried to whip with the angle, but the ball kicked up viciously from the turf and crashed into the off-stump.

Ashwin had produced a beauty. A moment that was painting-perfect. But he had done so by setting up an ambitious experiment against a subject (sorry Ben) using tools of science (of spin bowling) at his disposal. His mind functioned like that of a scientist and his hands did the job of an artist. In just two deliveries, he showed us the best of both worlds.

Speaking of which, there aren’t many who can think of scoring a century and taking a fifer in the same breath. And deliver them in the same match.

Indian captain Virat Kohli who knows a thing or two about batting recently shared details of a conversation with the man being discussed.

“He (Ashwin) had a conversation with us (Kohli and Shastri) in the nets about his batting,” said Kohli (to Star Sports).

He further added, “We both said ‘you have so much more to provide for this team with the bat. That was one of your strengths. When we looked at you, we always felt like 30-35 guaranteed every innings’. If he gets going, he will score a crucial 70-80′. So, suddenly you saw his body language. It was like ‘Hold on, this is my time, my tour now with the bat and with the ball’.”

Since this conversation, Ashwin has helped India save a Test in Sydney and win a game in Chennai, courtesy of his willow and his skill in weaving magic with it.

His strike rate in the third Test was the fourth-best attained by an Indian batsman after Rohit (2nd innings), Rohit (1st), and Shubman (2nd). Fourth best in a team that comprised of Rishabh Pant, Virat Kohli, and also Ajinkya Rahane. Even better than Joe Root in both innings. His score in the first innings (17) was one of the 14 double-digit scores out of the 32 outings with the bat in the entire Test. Given how tough it was for batsmen to score in Ahmedabad, Ashwin’s knock was a nice dessert after Chennai’s special supper.

A player, inquisitive and ready to work on his lesser tapped skill set at the age of 34, having already achieved enough to get the status of a legend. How can you not honor him with the fine wine analogy after every single game?

In November this year, Ashwin will complete ten years as a Test cricketer. To have a quality spinner like him, contributing massively in winning games with the kind of variety that he has offered over a decade is a gift for any team. For Indian cricket, it is also helping the future settle well in the present.

Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav crediting Ashwin for helping them makes total sense, given their domain as spinners. But an off-spinner setting the field for a debutant pacer in Boxing Day Test after being 1-0 down in the series can only mean two things. The off-spinner is a genius reader of the game and a leader. Someone who likes to participate in the process of producing success for his teammates.

Ashwin can just bowl his share of overs and field for the rest, take some breath. But he is not the one who sits quietly and watches things happen. If a situation demands his words, he comes up with the most precise ones. Just like he did in Sydney, facing a comment from Australia’s Test captain. Just like he did in Ahmedabad more recently, facing a question from an English journalist.

While tempers did flare in both instances, Ashwin’s response was well weighed. And in the latter and the more constructive of conversations, the 34-year old played his part by countering the question with a question.

“What makes a good surface? Who defines this? Seam on the first day and then bat well and then spin on the last two days?”

It shouldn’t come in as a surprise that of all the questions around the pitch, the most sensible one was raised by a cricketer who played on it. Especially when he can tell you a kutti story.

When Ashwin talks, all you want to do as cricket fans is listen. And he does that pretty often these days. Making me as a sports journalist, ask myself ‘mai kya kru, job chhod du? (What should I do, leave my job?)’. Not in bad taste. As a compliment. Rarely do we see a player articulate so often about the game openly, while they are still playing it. But let’s come back from the comm box that eagerly awaits him to the pitch that still wants to embrace him.

Getting to 400 Test wickets should only be a small validation for a titan of Indian cricket. Who, for all these years, has done what he knows best. Just go on the pitch and perform.

(Featured Image: BCCI)