Spinner shows off all-round brilliance to dominate Moeen
Hconfrontational Ashwin targets opposite number with the bat as India look to inflict maximum damage on England
By outperforming his opposite number by such an extent – with bat and ball – Ravichandran Ashwin has given India a psychological grip on this series, and it will take all the swing and seam of a pink ball under lights in Ahmedabad for England to bounce back.
In the process of going second behind Sir Ian Botham among allrounders who have scored a century and taken a five-wicket haul in a Test match – he has achieved the feat three times to Botham’s five – Ashwin (below) dominated England and their spinners but, above all, he dominated his opposite number, Moeen Ali.
Stuart Broad has also been outperformed in this Test: a lukewarm opening spell in the first session, along with four more lukewarm overs in the second, were not what England required from the leader of their attack after losing the toss. But Broad found a place to hide until India’s tail-enders emerged in their second innings, while Moeen never did. The 226 runs he conceded are a huge price for a spinner to pay for eight wickets on a big – if slow – turner with the odd ball taking off.
There are defeats that do not damage morale, and defeats that do. Ashwin forced England into the latter category when, with only India’s No11 left, he took Moeen on, slogswept him for six, punished another full toss and went to his fifth Test century. From the 39 balls Moeen bowled to him, Ashwin scored 36 runs.
As a proud and competitive son of Tamil Nadu, Ashwin made an even wider impact with this century on his home ground. However much the International Cricket Council would like to punish India – which is the very last thing it would do – it cannot reprimand India for the Chennai pitch as being substandard when a batsman scores a hundred in the third innings, to go with Rohit Sharma’s sublime 161 in the first.
Ashwin is arguably the most confrontational player in this series. He pushes the boundary of gamesmanship and oversteps it when he pulls out of his delivery stride for no other reason than to disturb the batsman. It was he who provoked uproar by Mankading in the
Indian Premier League: running out
Jos Buttler at the bowler’s end by pretending to deliver, then pulling out and removing the bails at the nonstriker’s end.
Had England rolled over India in their second innings, they would have flown to Ahmedabad in far better heart, as they had looked like doing when India disintegrated. But from 106 for six, Ashwin steered his team to almost 300 – the equivalent of double that on a flat pitch – by using the formula for success in this match: be in the position to exploit an ageing ball and ageing bowlers during the hot afternoon.
England could not sweep Ashwin, because he is so tall and gets more bounce than most off-spinners. But Ashwin swept England; he said in an interview afterwards that he had put away the shot in his youth, and had only resurrected it for this series. He broke free by sweeping England’s spinners, before slogsweeping and driving them. By the time No11 Mohammed Siraj joined the slogging, England were cooked: to concede five sixes in each innings on such a turner is demoralising.
If Ashwin is the best off-spinner in the world, he has to be the best spin-bowling all-rounder too. He immediately works out the right pace for every phase of the pitch as it wears and tears. And ever tried playing carrom? It takes a strong finger to flick a carrom piece across the board. Try flicking one weighing 5½ ounces almost 20 yards, and straight. Ashwin had Rory Burns dropped by Rishabh Pant before dismissing him. Tired as he was, he still had the energy for a confrontational word as the players left the field.
It will take something exceptional to oust Rohit as player of the match, but Ashwin has probably done it, and could be the player of this series.