Ravinchandran Ashwin’s feat of being the fastest to 300 wickets must be appreciated in context of modern-day cricket.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has been trapped in the lure of the lucre and India’s cricket players are been pushed through a tough schedule year in and year out. Top cricketers like Ashwin end up playing nearly 40-50 matches across all international formats in a year. That does not include the Indian Premier League and domestic matches.
To complete this hard task of reaching 300 wickets in just 54 Tests, Ashwin had to play non-stop cricket year after year to get to it.
He made his Test debut on November 6, 2011, against the West Indies and in six years he is already on 300 wickets.
Compare that with England’s Freddie Trueman, who took his 300th in 65 Tests but took over 12 years to get there. West Indian Lance Gibbs, another off-spinner, took 17 years and 75 Tests to achieve that landmark.
This just reveals the amount of Tests being played in a short span today unlike in the 20th century where games were spread out over a long period of time. To maintain form and fitness over such a tight schedule is a tough call and Ashwin has come out of it with flying colours.
There is more wear and tear for spinners if they bowl long spells. But Ashwin has overcome this barrier by sheer determination to perform consistently over long periods. Add to that his useful batting at number six, Ashwin certainly wins a place among India’s greats.
But there are too many jealous elements around who grudge this fine player’s achievements. Like his former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Ashwin also faces baseless criticisms from the tainted press and green-eyed former players.
They keep harping that Ashwin is yet to prove himself abroad or that he needs help from the pitch to get wickets. These arguments don’t hold water. These are baseless arguments to bring down a player. One so-called expert had predicted before a tour that Ashwin’s spin partner Ravindra Jadeja would be picked ahead of Ashwin in the Tests. Nothing of that sort happened.
Such kind of rubbish can disturb a player but Ashwin is made up of sterner stuff. Like Dhoni, he lets his action speak for itself. These jealous critics have either never played cricket or are mediocre performers who give vent to their frustrations.
So what makes Ashwin tick? It is that exceptional ability combined with a sharp cricketing brain.
He also learns new variations and is not afraid to use them. Sometimes he does overuse them but learns from these mistakes. The best part about Ashwin is the flight and spin which he generates. He is an old-fashioned spinner who tricks batsmen in the air and off the pitch unlike the fast and accurate spinners of today.
What does the future hold for Ashwin? At 31, he is at the peak of his game and is eager for more.
The BCCI too is finally studying means to reduce the workload of players. This came about after Indian captain Virat Kohli complained that the players were not robots. So Ashwin can look forward to a more relaxed period ahead and his exit from the one-day setup will be a bonus.
If he stays fit, who knows where he will reach.
The world’s highest wicket-taker Muttiah Muralitharan, an off-spinner himself, summed up Ashwin’s achievements by saying he is the best spinner in the world. Any doubts?
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