THE ESSENCE OF BEING ASHWIN RAVICHANDRAN

Saw the BCCI tweet about Ashwin Ravichandran becoming the third highest wicket taker in Indian Test cricket. Of course, the # 1 man is far ahead of him, the wrist spinner Anil Kumble, who is 200 wicket ahead and Kapil Dev @ # 2. Apparently, Ashwin could surpass Kapil Dev but reaching the record of Anil Kumble looks tough, considering his age and also considering the geopolitics of Indian cricket.

Ashwin is a thinking and applying cricketer. Normally off-spinners fade away fast, if he doesn’t reengineer his finger spin continuously. Ashwin Ravichandran, an engineer by qualification, does apply physics a lot in the spin art. Ask him the the rotation of the ball and the angle, he would be precise in replying, of course in CGS units!

In his communication, one observes that Ashwin is very straight and upfront. To survive in Indian cricket you need a Godfather and play realpolitik. I am not sure if Ashwin has any of it. The result is that, lately, he is often sidelined when it come to matches. He is now identified as a Test player and not in ODI & T20. Rumour goes around that he is best at red ball and not in white. Of course India has plenty of good spinners and they need to be given a chance but not at the cost of the best one. What if Australia sidelined Shane Warne and Sri Lanka did so with Muthiah Muralidharan for the sake of youngsters, as India had done with Ashwin? This must be considered on the background that champion side captain of IPL, MS Dhoni, often used off-spinner Ashwin to open the bowling !!!

The fact that Ashwin took 418 wicket at the lowest number of Tests and with the best average & strike rate show that we simply cannot hide a heera (diamond). This is further endorsed by the new Captain of Indian T20 team, Rohit Sharma that he finds Ashwin as a weapon to control runs in the mid overs. It is also a fact that Virat Kohli the captain haven’t used Ashwin to the fullest. By seeing the body language between them, it was evident that things were not that smooth between them.

If Ashwin keeps himself fit and play his politics little more tactfully, one sees good opportunity for him to cross the 600 Test wicket mark and also making his mark on other forms of the game. What a joyous achievement would that be!

Keep going Ashwin Ravichandran! Wishing you the best!