Ravichandran Ashwin’s bowling has been compared to an opposition off-spinner enough times in the last thirteen years. From Graeme Swann to Nathan Lyon to Moeen Ali: in a long career, Ashwin has naturally been out-bowled by his contemporaries on occasions, and has ended up facing severe and often unwarranted criticism.
On the second day of the lunch test, he was hiding in the shadow of another player. However, this time there are legitimate concerns.
Shoaib Bashir, who had bowled a total of 203 overs in his entire County Championship career before being selected for the India tour, remained unchanged at 31 in the second Test match played at the North End of the JSCA International Stadium. I bowled an over. >With this, he ripped the heart out of the Indian batting line-up and gave England an edge.
Bashir was chosen for his “high release point” and the “natural qualities” he possesses compared to the sheer numbers he had to achieve in first-class cricket,Selected The art ofhas been proven. As England’s director of cricket, Rob Key, argued when trying to explain Bashir’s inclusion in the squad, sometimes the job works through the Science of Selection.
A bit disorganized on his Test debut in Vizag on a surface that had plenty of cracks to exploit, Basheer kept things simple and focused on one point while playing on a crumbling Ranchi pitch and remained I left it to the players. Ashwin couldn’t do it on the first day.
Ashwin came into the attack in the 20th over on the first day, by which time England’s first three wickets had already been knocked down, exposing an ailing middle order. Unable to find the rhythm normally expected of him throughout the series, Jonny Bairstow rightly thought it would be a good idea to relegate the experienced spinner to the background early on. There were sixes and fours in the first seven balls, but Ashwin quickly regained control. At least he looked like that.
In the second over of his innings, he forced Bairstow to try to dislodge a ball that had gone under his bat. Spinners usually take time to get used to their spells and the same has been true for Ashwin for the past few years. Early wickets act as a catalyst for this process. However, this time Ashwin bowled another 20 overs and did not take any more wickets.
Bairstow’s wicket was the only one that Ashwin took in the first innings in Ranchi
The plan must have been simple because the test match revealed an uneven bounce earlier than in the ideal case. As Bashir showed on his second day, it was about attacking the stumps. Of the four wickets he took, three were bowled or pound wickets and the fourth was a bat-pad catch from a delivery that was also on the stumps.
Rohit Sharma, aware of the nature of the conditions presented, delayed introducing Kuldeep Yadav until the 42nd over of the first day. He emphasized accuracy and gave finger spinners ample opportunity to hit the cracks. Jadeja did what he had to do, but Ashwin tried too hard.
The constant changes in angle, trajectory, speed and length mean he is not making the most of the help available to him, as well as the relentlessness inflicted on England’s batsmen from the opposition. Not given a way to escape from pressure. . His 22 overs yielded 3.77 runs per over (RPO), almost double that of Jadeja and Kuldeep, who conceded a combined 2.01 RPO in the first innings. Bashir also recorded an RPO of 2.62 on his second day, making his accuracy difficult to score on.
Ashwin had a quiet series by his standards. He took just 12 wickets in seven innings at 38.83. Tom Hartley (18 wickets at 32.11), Jadeja (16 wickets at 23.62), Kuldeep (8 wickets at 31.12) and Bashir (8 wickets at 35) all have lower averages than him. In fact, this is his third time that Ashwin has averaged over 30 in a home Test series. All three of his opponents were England.
Bashir trapped Rajat Patidar lbw en route to his four-for on day two of the Ranchi Test. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
And now, Ashwin’s disappointing performance in the series, hitherto overshadowed by the rest of the Indian attack, is brought into the spotlight by Basheer’s performance in the first innings at Ranchi. became.
After playing on the second day of the third Test of the series in Rajkot, Ashwin said he was not particularly worried about his bowling, even if the numbers were not as high as usual at home. Test series: “Even though I had to judge by looking at how I bowled, I was not that nervous because they couldn’t hit me in different places (of the ground). No. It [worries] me.”< /p>
Among the boundaries he hit in his first innings at Ranchi were three sixes and a four towards midwicket, two fours between covers and point, and a four behind square on the leg side. did. It’s not an entire floor yet, but it’s large enough to make me wonder if I’m following my word.
At the end of the second day’s play, India were 134 runs behind England’s first innings total of 353, with just three wickets in hand. India’s bowling coach Paras Mambray said they were playing “unexpectedly low” but said this could be too big a drawback to overcome.
Looking back, just as Bashir’s performance played an important role in England taking the lead, Ashwin’s performance in the first innings played an important role as India fell behind. fulfilled.
Ashwin has lost once in his career, but he rarely loses at home and the one who beat him is rarely a 20-year-old rookie with less than 10 first-class experience. was.
Ashwin has not missed a single home Test since his debut and this is probably the first time since the 2012 series against the same opposition that he has been cornered and the first time India have lost a home Test series. .
As in this series, the 37-year-old has only three chances left to make a comeback and time is not on Ashwin’s side and there is no reason for India to worry.
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