Ashwin’s wait could continue
Skipper Kohli firming up his team template for England series, Jadeja’s form with bat could keep India’s top spinner on the bench
IF ENGLAND CONTINUE TO OFFER PITCHES THAT HAVE GRASS ON IT, FITTING IN ASHWIN COULD BE DIFFICULT BECAUSE INDIA OFTEN GO BY THE LOOK OF PLAYING SURFACES
KOLKATA: Here is how Test cricket is panning out for Ravichandran Ashwin right now: He is the first pick at home and normally supported by Ravindra Jadeja if not operating alone.
Since his debut against West Indies in Delhi on November 6, 2011, Ashwin has featured in all 47 Tests played at home. Jadeja, due to injury or selection, has missed six of the 39 home Tests played since his debut against England in Nagpur on December 13, 2012. The first Indian to score three first-class triple centuries, Jadeja has a better batting average (38.9) than Ashwin (29.3) at home, but the latter has scored more centuries (three to Jadeja’s one). Runs at home, though valued, are secondary because Ashwin does his primary job so well—single-handedly win Tests with the ball.
Outside the subcontinent, other factors weigh in. Ashwin still has played more in Australia (10 to Jadeja’s 4) and South Africa (3 to Jadeja’s 1) because the pitches have bounce that helps spinners and very little lateral movement, meaning he can still punt on playing through the line as a batsman (and do remarkably like in Sydney 2021 where he and Hanuma Vihari strapped themselves to the pitch to wrest a draw).
England is where expectations and skills get tangled. Throughout the 2011, 2014 and 2018 tours of England, India have been wretched in their batting. This time, the focus has been to select a team that can bat till No.8, meaning India are looking for two assuring bats after Rishabh Pant at No.6. Jadeja and Shardul Thakur are the ones for now, though Ashwin scored a century (106) against England in Chennai in February. The selection paid off, considering Jadeja was more than half the reason India ended with a first innings lead of 95 in
Nottingham.
A largely successful outing despite the draw in the first Test has prompted India to claim that a combination of four fast bowlers and one spinner may work in England.
“Most likely it will be a template going ahead in the series, but again adaptability has been our strength as well,” said India skipper Virat Kohli on Sunday.
Did India really play five bowlers at Trent Bridge? Jadeja bowled 16 overs in the entire Test, three in the first innings and 13 in the second when England had almost no problem scoring off him. Ashwin would have been a better bet with the older ball. A big reason England were dismissed for 303 in the second innings (they lost four wickets in six overs after the second new ball was taken) was because they were looking to force a result on a pitch that had become a batters’ paradise.
It could also be argued England and India probably ended on an even keel because both downgraded their bowling by dropping their best spinners (England didn’t pick left-arm spinner Jack Leach). England still fielded a four-man pace attack (Sam Curran as allrounder) and picked an extra batsman in Dan Lawrence while India went ahead with only the idea of five bowlers. A deconstruction of their bowling will tell Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj—their main fast bowlers— accounted for 16 wickets, Shardul Thakur took the other four. An argument can be made that India could pick Jadeja— one of the most complete cricketers—as a batting all-rounder, Ashwin as the lone spinner and three fast bowlers. After all, that is the combination India went with for the World Test Championship final in wet Southampton
against a New Zealand team that had just beaten England at home. To drop the world’s best spinner on a drier surface in Nottingham after that can create confusion, especially in Ashwin’s mind.
No other bowler has been put in such a predicament when in the best form of life. Take the case of Nathan Lyon—the only comparable off-spinner—who has played 13 consecutive Ashes Tests in England across three tours. And he has a batting average of just over 12 in England. India not only downplayed Ashwin’s batting nous (he averages 23.72 in England, compared to Jadeja’s 30.25) on a good Trent Bridge pitch but possibly also missed out on a chance to use the psychological ploy by unleashing the spinner who had left the English in a spin just five months back. Now that Jadeja has justified his place with a second-innings fifty and Thakur has been more than decent, what are the chances of Ashwin playing?
If England continue to offer pitches that have a bit of grass on it, accommodating Ashwin could be difficult because India often go by the look of playing surfaces and not the feel. Comparisons between Jadeja and Ashwin too are unwarranted. Jadeja will always be a batsman who can bowl.
Ashwin is a strategist who works on finding more ways to deceive a batsman. A livewire in the field, Jadeja is two years younger, nimbler, doesn’t drop catches, easily saves 10 runs and can wield the long handle as well. Ashwin brings more tact to the game. He even played County cricket to prepare for this series, taking 6/21 for Surrey against Somerset after opening the bowling. There is no reason to doubt whether Ashwin is the better spinner in England, even with the Dukes ball that retains its shine longer, but also aids spinners with its pronounced seam. He may still have to wait for his turn purely because of an unfavourable batting average in England.