India v South Africa 2015: The Ashwin Force

Ashwin’s performance in the Test Series was a major highlight

The end of a Test series with the South African team, which ended 3-0 in favour of India was a special result considering the fact that India was competing against the best Test side of cricket i.e. South Africa.

Irrespective of whichever way and from whatever angle the series sweep is looked at, it is an astonishing result. To beat South Africa by such a large margin is a stunning result. The accolades for the stunning result are well deserved in the form of India’s spin bowling reserves, which completely knocked the bells out of the South African batsmen.

Ashwin's resurgence in the last one year

The one player who stood out in the entire series was Ravichandran Ashwin and his ability to take wickets at crucial times and at will and ease. The numbers behind Ashwin are outstanding, depicting a picture of awe and respect. Putting aside the debate of pitches offering assistance to the home team for a brief moment, the Indian spin attack picked up 61 wickets during the course of the series.

The entire saga started during the term when India toured Sri Lanka earlier this year when Ashwin illustrated his true grit and smartness on the field when he outsmarted Kumar Sangakkara four times in four Test innings and became the first ever bowler to do so.

Notably, the ending of one legend of cricket coincided with the emergence of another great spinner in the form of Ashwin. As Kohli beamingly remarked during the post-match presentation against South Africa that, “in subcontinent conditions Ashwin is currently the most dangerous bowler to face.”

From being benched at Adelaide when India toured Australia to winning the man of the series award in Sri Lanka and as well as against South Africa, Ashwin has indeed traversed a long journey. His spell to de Villiers, arguably the best batsmen in the world of cricket today, in the first Test match at Mohali, was nothing short of a dream.

Ashwin was the pick of the bowlers against South Africa, boasting an astounding 31 wickets at a brilliant strike rate of 31.8 in the entire recently concluded series. Ashwin has been India’s number one spinner now, for a long period of time, but what he illustrated against South Africa was his ability to win matches on his own, a quality only possessed by a group of elite spinners such as Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan and Anil Kumble.

Growing into a potent weapon for the team

Undoubtedly, Ashwin is in the form of his life. The statistics for the last six months clearly indicate that Ashwin has taken 57 wickets in the last eight Tests, at an average of 14.38. During this period, he has taken 41% of all wickets by Indian bowlers.

There was little that went wrong for India during the series. Starting with an aggressive captain in the form of Kohli, who was shouldering the responsibility of a team in transition and ending with Ashwin, catalysing a historic win, the cricketing fraternity watched a young Indian team play cohesively against South Africa.

Furthermore, Ashwin has won five man-of-the-series awards out of the twelve he has played in and he is as potent and dangerous as his idol Anil Kumble. As a spinner one is expected to be equipped with a host of variations but to be a successful spinner your stock delivery has to be your most potent weapon and your USP.

In addition to all the praise Ashwin has been receiving for his scintillating form, the most prized amongst them all has to be from his idol Anil Kumble when he chanced to remark that “I think a lot of people remind me of that. But as far as the attitude on the field is concerned – I don’t know how they are off the field because I have absolutely no idea – I sometimes see Ashwin and see myself in him, when he’s bowling, batting.”

The classical offspinner's line is working wonders for him at the moment. He is evidently more confident with his action than he used to be and with his pace and subtle variations one can only hope that the dream continues.

Work needed on away form

Notably, Ashwin’s statistics away from home are dismal. Since his debut in 2011, Ashwin has only 50 wickets to his name in 13 Tests while bowling away. In his previous six Tests, between December 2013 and January 2015, Ashwin has only managed 15 wickets at an average of 52.86 and has bowled 100 deliveries per wicket.

Noteworthy is also the fact that all his success stories are solely restricted to the sub-continent. His numbers in Asia are mind boggling. In 23 Tests in the sub-continent, he has taken a staggering 152 wickets at an average of 6.6 wickets per test and at an average of 20.47.

His wickets tally is the best for any bowler after his 23 Tests in the continent. Only Waqar Younis (130), Harbhajan Singh (114) and Anil Kumble (112) come close to his record.

There is little doubt that Ashwin is a good spinner, but the question that is poignantly posed is whether he has it in him to become a legend of spin bowling? For him to make that leap from good to becoming a legend in spin bowling he needs to start performing on tracks that aren't helpful as the ones he is used to at home.

In addition to the above, the age factor also comes into play as for the 29-year-old the clock is slowing ticking away.