Ravichandran Ashwin has made India proud after claiming number one spot in the list of ICC test all-rounder category. In the past, Team India didn’t have a penetrative bowler and a handy all-rounder to go all out for a victory even when the team was in precarious position. Ashwin came, saw and conquered Indian wickets with his teasing spin, good variation and a subtle carrom ball to deceive the best batsmen in the world. He deserves the number one spot as an all-rounder in the Test bowling rankings.
Ashwin capped off a wonderful year by claiming 72 wickets and scoring 612 runs as India wrapped up their Test journey in 2016 with a 4-0 rout of England in the five-match series. Ashwin recorded eight five-wicket hauls this year and also proved his batting prowess with a couple of hundreds and four half-centuries. The two centuries came against West Indies when chips were down for India. This year, Ashwin was also adjudged Man of the Series twice out of a possible four series. Overall, he has won the award seven times, which is the most by any Indian player. It is worth mentioning that no other Indian has been feted and awarded so often for his all-round brilliance. Not only has he stood out with most wickets in India’s series wins, Ashwin has also played crucial roles with the bat to bail the team out of tricky situations. The Tamil Nadu tweaker’s tremendous efforts on the pitch have made India a force to reckon with.
Spin bowlers mature with age and Ashwin at 30 studied the art of bowling off spinners in a most clever and calculated manner. Ashwin’s complete control of the ball came after he was under the watchful eyes of coach Sunil Subramaniam. It is necessary in any game if one wish to improve will comes from concentrated practise. No player has risen to the top without spending hours, days, weeks practising to a plan. Henry Cotton, the famous golfer practised putting until his back ached with bending over the putter. Ravichandran Ashwin mastered the art of off spin bowling under watchful eyes and he is the trump card bowler for India. Kudos to Ashwin for a spending performance. Hail Team India for the historic 0-4 win against English side and full praise should go to Ashwin for the stupendous show with the ball in all the test matches.
Spin doctor is the right word applied for the superlative bowling performance of Ravichandran Ashwin. With Australian side, a weak set of batsmen against off spinners, he is likely to get rich harvest of wickets and go far ahead of all the bowlers in the test arena. Ashwin is cool, composed and calculated to rub the opposition on the wrong side and achieve big haul of wickets. Kudos to Ashwin for his superlative show in the year 2016 and he deserves player of the year award.
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
