Ravichandran Ashwin: Running out of time overseas?

Ravichandran Ashwin is without a doubt one of the best spinners in the world as far as Test cricket is concerned. Among the active spinners, Ashwin is the leading the wicket-taker in this format with 336 wickets in just 64 matches.

Ashwin first burst onto the scene in the 2010 edition of the IPL playing for Chennai Super Kings. His impressive performance in the tournament earned him a call to the national team. One year later in 2011 he made his Test debut against West Indies and became the seventh Indian to take a five-wicket haul on Test debut.

Since then Ashwin has become a legend as far as the home conditions are concerned. In 38 matches at home, he has picked up 234 wickets with 20 five-wicket hauls and 6 ten-wicket hauls. He is also effective with the bat at home, averaging 29.81 with 2 centuries and 7 half-centuries.

Ashwin's record in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh is also sublime. He has played 7 matches in those two countries and picked up 43 wickets.

But the question mark over Ashwin's career has always been his performance in outside Asia. Unfortunately, he has not been able to answer those questions successfully yet. So this tour of Australia may be his last chance to answer those questions.

A bowler of Ashwin's calibre is expected to take wickets all over the world and become a game-changer for his team. But sadly and surprisingly he has not been able to do so. Even when he gets pitches favourable for spin bowling in overseas conditions, he is not able to capitalize.

India's recent tour of England was Ashwin's golden opportunity but one that he missed. The pitches in England were very un-english. They were spin friendly but still, he failed to deliver. Moeen Ali (England's second spinner) played just 2 matches and picked up 12 wickets and was a big game changer for his team. Whereas Ashwin, one of the world's best spinners, played 4 matches and picked up just 11 wickets.

This year India toured South Africa and England and on both the tours expectations were very high from Ashwin. But he disappointed everyone. In the 6 matches that he played outside of India this year, he has picked up just 18 wickets.

The problem with Ravichandran Ashwin seems to be the mental aspect of the game more than the skill-set. He has got all the skills to be successful in any conditions but somehow the correct application is missing. In Test matches, Ashwin seems to be trying hard to show the selectors that he has got the variations required for the limited overs cricket.

People outside of sub-continent still hesitate to consider him as one of the best. So this tour of Australia maybe Ravichandran Ashwin's last chance to establish himself as one of the best spinners in the world who can take wickets in any conditions. Hopefully, he delivers in this series and helps India win their first ever Test series in Australia, proving his critics wrong.