Ravichandran Ashwin

Ravichandran Ashwin burst onto the scene with his street-smart exploits in the shorter form of the game at the IPL, but since his Test debut against West Indies in 2011, Ashwin has made it a habit to pick up wickets, especially in dry and dusty conditions that support turn. He has made a name for himself in the shorter formats of the game, more so in T20 cricket where his accuracy and shrewdness has made him a dependable bowler. He has managed to fill in the boots of Harbhajan Singh and then some, and has become India's premier bowler in the subcontinent.

A consistent season at the domestic level made him stand out and got Ashwin a contract with the BCCI, in addition to leading Tamil Nadu to victory in the domestic one-day trophy in 2009. When Harbhajan opted out of the first two games against South Africa at home in early 2010, Ashwin was called in as his replacement. Alas he did not get his coveted India Test cap. Impressive performances for the Chennai franchise in the subsequent edition of the IPL meant that he was always knocking on the door and an extended chance arrived in June 2010 when India decided to experiment on their tour to Zimbabwe for a tri-series.

After going constantly in and out of the team, the wily off-spinner was picked in the Indian squad for the 2011 World Cup in the Indian subcontinent. However, he played for only two games, including the quarter-final. Ashwin was finally given an extended run in Tests and was adjudged the Man of the Series in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2013, starting his journey as India's go-to bowler on subcontinental pitches with an impressive tally of 29 wickets in the series. In the process he became the third Indian off-spinner to take 25-plus wickets in a series after Harbhajan Singh (32) & Erapalli Prasanna (26). In the first Test match of the home series against West Indies in November 2013, Ashwin got his second Test ton and also put on a record seventh wicket partnership of 280 runs along with Rohit Sharma, going on to get his 100th wicket in his 18th Test - another record. Ashwin had been consistent in the opportunities that he has got and took over as the lead spinner in the Test side after the selectors dropped Harbhajan for the Test series against West Indies in 2011. He formed a successful partnership with left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha and later Ravindra Jadeja, especially in Tests in India.

Due to the largely home-centric seasons between 2015 to 2017, Ashwin had consistently performed well, making use of his guile and deception more along with his stock deliveries, rather than experimenting with too many variations. He had finally become a secure enough bowler to trust his off-break and his floater as his stock deliveries and using the carrom ball and other variations sparingly. In overseas conditions, however, he had quite a contrasting and abysmal record and struggled to grip the Kookaburra and extract as much turn on foreign pitches, compared to the SG ball in India. He showed his growth with the Kookaburra on helpful surfaces on the tour of Sri Lanka, where he claimed 21 wickets and played a big hand in India's series win, their first in the island nation since 1993. In the subsequent home season, he continued to mint wickets, looting 31 in 4 home Tests against South Africa.

Ashwin played the last two Test matches of the England tour and didn't perform too well with the Dukes whereas his counterpart Moeen performed considerably well against a formidable Indian batting line-up. He also played three Tests in the 2014-15 Border Gavaskar Trophy and showed much better control with the Kookaburra despite not being able to enchant it like he did the SG in India. He had outstanding series against the West Indies, New Zealand and England at home, snaffling an unparalleled 72 scalps in just 12 Tests. Ashwin had now turned into a complete all-rounder, more-than-handy with the bat and devastating with the ball in familiar conditions. He earned himself the prestigious ICC Test player of the year award as well as the ICC Player of the year award becoming only the second Indian to achieve both in the same year after Rahul Dravid. After missing out on the IPL, Ashwin went to England to have a county stint and proved to be excellent with the Dukes ball on the allotted surfaces, picking up wickets as though he were bowling in Chennai. During the second Test against Sri Lanka at Nagpur, he became the fastest bowler to 300 Test wickets in his 54th Test, leaving behind Dennis Lillee (56 Tests) and inspiring India's joint-highest Test win by an innings and 239 runs.

Ashwin continued to perform consistently for India, especially with the red ball. In 2016, he was named ICC’s Cricketer of the year and he continued to top the charts in ICC’s Test bowling rankings. Forming a formidable duo with Ravindra Jadeja, Ashwin was indomitable in home conditions. After representing India in a second consecutive Cricket World Cup in 2015, Ashwin saw his effectiveness dip in the limited-overs format. While he did eventually lose his place in the white-ball setup as India’s focus shifted to the more attacking wrist-spin of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav, Ashwin continued to be an integral part of the Test team. Breaking several records along the way, Ashwin established himself as the undisputed leader of India’s spin attack. In March 2022, he surpassed Kapil Dev’s 434 Test wickets to become India’s 2nd highest wicket-taker in Test cricket. In 2021, Ashwin made a surprising comeback to India’s T20 team after being named in the squad for the 2021 World T20. His performances weren’t noteworthy but he’d go on to retain his spot in the squad for the next T20 World Cup in 2022 as well.

IPL - Through the years

A rookie from Tamil Nadu, Ravichandran Ashwin, was picked by his home franchise - Chennai Super Kings - in 2009, where he played just two matches. The following season (2010) saw him rise to fame - courtesy his 'sodukku ball' a.k.a. carrom ball. Under MS Dhoni's captaincy, the 'mystery spinner' was summoned to bowl with the new ball and the youngster didn't disappoint his skipper as he finished with 13 wickets at a miserly economy rate of 6.10. Despite heavy competition from Royal Challengers Bangalore, the Super Kings managed to re-buy him for the 2011 season and the offie proved his worth. Ashwin scalped 20 wickets (economy: 6.15, average: 19.40) and he went onto win back-to-back titles for CSK (2010 and 2011). An integral member of the Super Kings set-up, he was retained by the franchise ahead of the 2014 season.

While 2014 saw him lose his form a bit, Ashwin came back strongly in the following season. Although he picked just 10 wickets in 16 games during the 2015 season, his economy rate was 5.84, which is incredible in T20s. Following the 2-year-suspension for CSK, Ashwin was picked by Rising Pune Supergiants at the 2016 IPL Player Draft. After having an ordinary outing in 2016, Ashwin was ruled out of the following season due to sports hernia injury. Ashwin had to go under the hammer in 2018 and Kings XI Punjab bought him for Rs 7.6 crore and named him the captain. The season wasn't a success, both for Ashwin and for Punjab as they finished 7th with Ashwin scalping only 10 wickets. A suspected fallout between captain Ashwin and head-coach Anil Kumble led to Kumble’s departure the following season but the Punjab franchise didn’t see much change in fortune under Mike Hesson either in 2019 as they finished 6th this time.

Ashwin was subsequently traded to the Delhi Capitals for the 2020 season. While he was consistently in the mix at Delhi for the following two seasons, there weren’t any performances of note as he finished with 13 and 7 wickets respectively. For the 2021 season, he was bought by the Rajasthan Royals for INR 5 crore.

By Rishi Roy