Image Credit- BCCI
Occasionally, the
caption composes itself. India had gained complete control over England, who
had led the Ranchi Test earlier in the day. Alternately, it might have
declared—giving a nod to several Tamil blockbusters—that the hero, who had been
taking hits without answering for the first part of the movie, had suddenly
taken a solid, vein-popping hold of his machete.
In this India-England series, Ashwin had already claimed 12 wickets at an
average of 38.83 prior to this innings. In his 19 prior home series, he had
only finished one with a lower average and two with an average of thirty or
higher.
You would have had a
hard time finding a legitimate explanation for his remarkably low results if
you had been observing him bowl. These things do occasionally happen,
particularly across short sample sizes like three-and-a-half Test matches, but
in this particular series, against this opponent, with this style of cricket,
and at this point in Ashwin’s career, it looked significant. It made his
supporters feel queasy in their bellies.
They didn’t have to worry. Alternatively, claiming that is merely another way
of undervaluing Ashwin. The man is a five-for machine; in Ranchi, he scored his
35th to tie Anil Kumble despite bowling 49 fewer innings. However, each of them
has required him to find a way to get on top of a different line-up in a
different situation on a different surface.
He tried an unusual
style of bowling in Ranchi since he was bowling on a pitch that was unusual and
the match or series may be on the verge of change. One that required him to
“literally rewire” himself, in his own words.
Ashwin’s artistic
ability has always been able to be lost in the mist of unrelated sounds. It’s
his universe, after all.
He will also have jokingly noted, in the days following his Ranchi masterclass,
the Wellington Test match sheet and the figures in the wickets columns for
Glenn Phillips and Nathan Lyon.
However, when India
has travelled to South Africa, New Zealand, or most places in England, they
have almost always seen greentops that are intended to negate their spinners.
While it is widely acknowledged that Ashwin’s resume is severely lacking in
five-wicket hauls outside of Asia and the West Indies, India’s opponents have
possibly done him their greatest homage by preventing him from having the
opportunity to rectify it.
Although this has
been mentioned previously on these pages and in other places, it bears
repeating: Ashwin (30.57) has the second-highest average among all spinners who
have bowled in at least ten innings in Australia, England, New Zealand, and
South Africa since the beginning of 2018. The best average belongs to Nathan
Lyon (28.41).
With Ashwin, a spinner can take wickets anywhere in the world with all the
tools they need and more. He simply happens to play in a time when India can
field four fast bowlers in a side if necessary and have another elite spinner
who also happens to be the best all-around player in the world.
The clamour of
people who believe Ashwin is a home-track bully and that the home tracks he has
played on are all the same square turners will never be silenced by any of
these arguments. Probably, Ashwin has come to terms with the idea that no
amount of meticulous reasoning can defeat that chant.
And it’s a positive thing. Ashwin is still at the top of his game, muttering to
himself as he twists the ball into his palm, making you guess which load-up he
will go for today, having tedious debates with umpires, and searching his mind
for inventive ways to get batters out if we are still waiting for that
realisation to dawn.
At his core, that’s what Ashwin is: a getter-out of batters. One of the
greatest there has ever been. He has brought up two hugely significant
milestones during this series, and perhaps nothing sums him up like the order
in which they’ve come: the 500th wicket before the 100th Test. Do the math, and
marvel.