Aakash Chopra and Ravichandran Ashwin(Twitter)
Indian all-rounder, Ravichandran Ashwin, recently won the Player of the Series accolade against Bangladesh for securing 11 wickets and scoring 114 runs across the two Tests against Bangladesh. This was Ashwin’s 11th POTS award in his esteemed Test career, and deservedly so.
In a recent discussion, cricketer-turned-commentator, Aakash Chopra, spoke on bowling in Test cricket being closer to a goldsmith’s piece of work, as compared to that done by a blacksmith. He also elaborated on “actual bowling of Test cricket”, something which he thought Ashwin executed to the tee in the recently-concluded series.
“Ravichandran Ashwin’s specialty is this. You need to learn that being boring is a fantastic thing in Test cricket. You need to keep bowling the same thing repeatedly at the same place. This is not a blacksmith’s game, but a goldsmith’s game. A blacksmith hits hard, makes like that and the noise is also very loud, but the goldsmith keeps working on a single area, and then a very nice jewelry piece is created. This is actual bowling of Test cricket, where you keep bowling in one area so that the batter gets troubled and tries something different. We have seen people getting out while doing something different,” stated Chopra, during a discussion on Colours Cineplex.
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Chopra also spilled out the beans on why Ashwin was a he successful as his track record in the longest format of the game indicates.
“You get wickets on balls that fall in the good length area because you have to mostly go forward to play those deliveries. When the balls can be played off the back-foot against spin, it means you have neutralized him (the spinner). If the bowler is pulling you forward, it means he is allowing the ball to remain in the air for some time and pitching it slightly fuller. When you bowl fuller, multiple options get opened up. You have chances of bat-pad, leg-before, and catches,” mentioned Chopra.
Chopra illuminates difference in Ashwin’s bowling in Chennai and Kanpur
The two matches were played on two contrasting pitches, and Chopra pointed out how Ashwin changed his strategy accordingly.
“He has also done it on two different pitches. You bowl very differently on black-soil pitches from how you bowl on red-soil pitches because the methods of taking wickets change. You get edges on red-soil pitches and they carry. Here, you get more leg-before and bowled because the ball stays slightly low,” added Chopra.
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With Ashwin’s 11th POTS accolade, he stands level with the great Muttiah Muralitharan. Having played 19 series less, Ashwin seems more than likely to top the charts in the upcoming series against New Zealand if he is able to emulate his performance.