Life to the Art of Spin Bowling

For the  generation of cricket fans from Chennai who started following the game from 1996 World cup it’s always an oddness when other metro cities in the country had super stars in International cricket with the fabulous four ruling the game; Chennai cricket lovers  celebrated and cherished each and every success of the Indian cricket team though there was an unexpressed sadness in the Chennai fans as there was no International super star representing from the city’s heart though we had glimpses of stars in the form of RobinSingh ,Balaji, Badri, Ramesh, SriRam , DK & Badani.

Scenes changed with the arrival of the spin master Ravi Ashwin. Ashwin marking his entry playing the game alongside the legends Murali , Haydos for CSK  contributed for the champions league victory and was judged man of the series. With the arrival of the T20 ; spinner’s career  predicted to be short lived. But Ashwin sustains as the main reason behind proving the critics strong & for making the art of spin survive in the modern day’s game.

Cricket an art sharing the need of both mental & physical skill set & the job is more demanding for the modern day spinners. Playing the first world cup game in 2011 WC against the mighty champions Australia, Ash contributed picking the important wickets of Ricky and Watson ; later was removed bowled with in the power play overs. Score card would have read different had Watson’s stumps were not collapsed by the off spinner with in the power play.

Ashwin’s adaptability for the 3 formats of the game & thriving for improvement season after season had definitely earned him the spot of current best spinner in the International arena. Ashwin is a prime example of applying the T20 aggressive tactics in the longer version of the game  . Ashwin stays a step ahead of the bats man’s mind across format & one bowler who could set up the bats man for a dismissal.

With 2 centuries in the longer version of the game , equalling the record for # number of test man of the series won with less matches against the names of Sachin & Sehwag, fastest Indian to 100 wickets  proves his worth in the longer version.  Long on drive resembling the midas touch of VVS Laxman explains  Ash’s worth as a batsmen in the 5 day game.

Ashwin’s dismissal of Amla in the 2014 T20 WC  will stand out as ball of the century; With Gayle as his bunny, watching Ash’s mind games against Glen Maxwell, ABD is always a master piece.  When one watches the game closely in the longer version Jaddu’s wicket column count increases with one end tightly held by the Ash. Be it for CSK or for Indian team Jaddu and Ash’s operation in different ends at a same time is a demand of mental concentration for the batsmen.

Ashwin’s 4/ 15 in the Champions trophy final with two good catches on the field in the low scoring thriller & 3 overs 1/14 in the Asia cup final against the  Bangladesh in their home ground are some of the notable performances which didn’t qualify for the man of the match.

Be it in the power play, or when the oppositions top batsmen are firing and you are in need to flight and bowl bravely, death overs bowling, when you are in need of a bowler to break partnership during intermediate overs – one bowler in Indian bowling line up who the captain will be reminded about will be the off spinner with a straight ball as a stock in his armory  wearing the 99 jersy which belonged to the great dada.

He is always as cool as captain cool MSD and he is as important as Kohli to the Indian team. With the television high lighting only the 4 s and 6s and leaving out how an off spinner bowls a dot ball, sets up  batsman , Spinners like Ash & the art of bowling are not going to be found important by the crowd other than the knowledgeable ones who follow the game. Also its time for the ICC panels & man of the match selectors to consider less than a ball run conceded performance by a bowler in T20 more vital than a 40 + run scored by a batsman.

He looks more fit in the recent days with improved fielding capabilities. We wish Ash a successful WC T20 and to bring back the trophy last won in 2007. When you pick up a wicket we whistle , raise our collars and say proudly Chennai’s boy has done it for India.