R Ashwin: The off-spinner who freed his craft from the web of doosras and mystery deliveries | Cricket News

He was a classicist in the neoclassical age; he was also neoclassical among the classics. He had connoisseurs purring with his seductive flight and devilish drop; from his wonderfully deft fingers, the ball spun sideways and over-spinned. He captivated batsmen with both the simplest and most complex setups. He was the envy of new-age spin tyros with his practiced skill at hitting the ball with his index finger and his ability to use different grips. He rolled up the seam with the same skill as he did the square seam.

No bowler has had as much variation as Ashwin since the departure of Shane Warne. To this extent, he was one of the game’s originals, an act that could not be replicated.

He was the perfect Indian spinner, composed with a fearsome symmetry. He mixed the grace of Bishan Singh Bedi with the cunning of Erapalli Prasanna, the brain and heart of Anil Kumble and the chutzpah of Harbhajan. The fact that he batted better than anyone else and could force his way into a team as an all-rounder was a dimension that would be overshadowed by the colossal shadow of his achievements with the ball.

Facing Ashwin was like entering a maze. There were variations within variations, pitfalls within pitfalls, subtleties within subtleties. Like Glenn McGrath, he often beat the visiting team’s best batsmen. He consumed Joe Root seven times, Steve Smith eight times and Kane Williamson five times. Left-handed virtuosos summoned the devil within him. Among his most prolific victims were Ben Stokes (12), David Warner (11), Alastair Cook (9) and Kumar Sangakkara, four times in 23 balls in Sri Lanka’s farewell series.

The dismissals were everywhere – the bowling around the stumps, the drifting inwards, the sudden and sneaky landing a few yards beyond the batsman’s guesses, the kissing of the edge, the cracking of the stumps. A heavy dose of this would make up any highlight reel tribute.

But Ashwin’s duels with right-handers were also legendary. Two layoffs demonstrate his mastery of his craft. One of them was Williamson at Kanpur in 2016, a great off-break from a good length range after a two-over length tease. Another was the more direct one Smith met in Adelaide in 2020, one that was planned months in advance with video analyst Prasanna Agoram and honed to perfection in the months in between.

Method before magic

He studied the lead men in detail and analyzed their weaknesses and strengths. Minute observations like Sangakkara don’t bring LBW to off-spinners or that Smith is more vulnerable outside the off-stump than on his pads, despite the massive shuffle. He once explained his thought patterns in this essay: “My preparation is whether I can disrupt a batsman’s pace.” Whether Smith would go to the off-stump after 10 or 12 balls. Or Joe Root, if you went around the stumps in the first eight balls he would turn you once. There are two ways to skin it: Do I want to stop Joe Root from putting it in reverse, or do I want Root to put it in reverse or get him out?”

The deconstruction of a batsman doesn’t end there. “It depends on where Root is in his career and how confident he is. Did he score 100 in the first two tests? Is he in a safe environment, coming from Sri Lanka after completing mountains of runs? That’s why I’m going to try to make a plan because I want the early blood,” he explains.

Some have misinterpreted this as overthinking. But Ashwin remained true to his nature. “I come from a school where even before a particular method breaks, I want to make sure I put it together and don’t get to a point where it breaks. Why is it happening? That’s the question people don’t realize. I address something before they think I should address it,” he explained.

He constantly tinkered with his action, experimenting with release points, grips and seam positions. He chose new tricks from much younger spinners and kept his mind open to the game’s ceaseless evolution. He was satisfied with his overall work, but kept the windows of perception open to add new dimensions.

It was as if bowling spin was a spiritual, timeless quest. As he arrived in his four-step run-up, arms flailing and a portrait of calm concentration, he looked less like his country’s greatest match-winner with the red ball than a philosopher in pursuit of the deepest meaning and purpose of his calling.

The journey produced exemplary moments, triumphs and victories. He is India’s second-highest wicket-taker in Tests, picked up the most Player of the Series awards in Tests and picked up the second-most five wickets in an innings after Muralitharan. The average (24) and strike rate (50) are the best of any Indian spinner ever, making him an immortal in Indian cricket. But his greatest legacy is that he reclaimed the soul of off-spin bowling at a time when it was mired in suspicious action and puzzle fixations, making it a riveting spectacle again. He randomly picks wickets on the journey.