Watch: R Ashwin Explains ‘Third Finger’ Carrom Ball That Bamboozled Marnus Labuschagne

Watch: Ravichandran Ashwin explained his thinking and preparation behind the stunning carrom ball he bowled to dislodge Marnus Labuschagne‘s stumps in the second India vs Australia ODI in Indore on September 24.

Ashwin, who returned to the ODI side for the first time since January 2022, got off to a strong start in the three-match series against Australia, picking up four wickets in the first two matches.

In the second match in Indore, Ashwin’s variations were exceptional and he ended up picking up three wickets. The last time Ashwin picked his 3 wickets in an ODI before the match against Indore was in his 2017.

One of the three wickets claimed by Ashwin was from Labuschagne, who tripped when a carom ball slipped. Given the flatter trajectory, Labuschagne moved back and played as an off-spinner. Instead, the ball drifted to the right-hander, who held his line after pitching, hit the outside edge by a considerable margin, and bounced off the stumps.

In a video released by BCCI today, Ashwin explained the logic behind using this carom ball at this point. “I wanted to maintain the length perfectly to keep it away from the batsmen while changing the pace,” Ashwin said. “I think Marnus tried a reverse sweep earlier, so I was expecting him to try to back up and maybe do a slog sweep or something like that. I wanted it to be up and down.”

Mr. Ashwin said that the carom ball that Mr. Labuschagne disposed of was different from the traditional carom ball that he used for bowling, and the reason why he felt the need to further develop it was as follows: explained. very well. Maybe it’s the angle and grip changes I make. I use my ring finger to bowl carom balls and off-breaks. Maybe, hopefully, it will be beneficial to me.

“I worked a little bit with Sairaj [Bakhtoor] at NCA, working with different angles and slightly different grips. I have been playing cricket for many years, but this was a long time ago I should have done it. But at least I’m doing it now and that’s why I’m happy.

“What satisfied me was how much uncertainty I was able to create in terms of both edges of the blade. That’s what I’ve been working on and that’s what I wanted to do. Because when you go into something like carrom ball, slider mode, the angles are pretty similar, the lines and release points are very similar, so I wanted to utilize both edges and that worked. It’s been in the planning stages for a while, and I’m glad it’s happening.”

Watch Ashwin explain the logic and preparation behind the carrom ball that dismissed Marnus Labuschagne:

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