R Ashwin 50: A defining road ahead of ace India off-spinner

Bengaluru, July 25: Who is India's most scrutinised cricketer of the past five years? Virat Kohli? M S Dhoni? Ravindra Jadeja? Yes, all of them stood under the lens at various stages but none went through the wringer as regularly as R Ashwin.

Several tags were attached on him - strike bowler, match-winner, home-turf bully, overseas dud. His onfield outings too mirrored a topsy-turvy ride.

They were frustrating days for the Tamil Nadu off-spinner. A trip to Australia (2012) was largely futile, toiled wicketlessly in the first Test in South Africa (Johannesburg) in 2013 before benched in Durban and in England (2014) he returned with three wickets from two Tests. In the same year, Virat Kohli omitted Ashwin from the Adelaide Test against Australia. End of the road?

Such a series of fruitless days could have pushed many other bowlers to a dark corner. But the personal hurt, perhaps, ignited the fire in Ashwin to script a success story. Perhaps, the snubs during those overseas trips made him understood his role as a bowler better.

The first reflection of growing self-awareness came in Sri Lanka (2015) as he took 21 wickets from three Tests at a shade over 18 to fashion India's come-from-behind 2-1 series win. The way he repeatedly dismissed Kumar Sangakkara, a fine player of spin, in his farewell series will be the highlight of his efforts.

Since then, Ashwin ran roughshod over the West Indies, New Zealand, England and Australia. In all, he took 156 wickets in this timespan. His efforts prompted former Australian captain Steve Waugh to term him 'Bradman of bowling.'

A more reasonable analysis came from Sunil Subramaniam, former Tamil Nadu spinner and a guide to Ashwin from the age-group stage. "During the time, when he was struggling to take wickets (especially overseas), Ashwin was trying to use all his variations. He was all over the place and the challenge for him was to channelise his creativity at one spot. Now, he is bowling more like a traditional off-spinner," said Subramaniam.

Subramaniam hoped Ashwin would begin the cycle of overseas Test matches, beginning with the tour to Sri Lanka, on a successful note. "He may get some surfaces to his liking there because Sri Lanka too will be banking on Rangana Herath to grab the wickets. So, success may be in store for him there," he said.

There will be a proud moment for him too in Lanka when he achieves the 50-Test mark at Galle. But South Africa, Australia and England are ahead of him, places where he tasted little success in the past - 69 wickets from 17 Tests to be precise.

"The role of a spin bowler is different in those nations. By pure number, yes, Ashwin should get the chance to be in the eleven, but then there are several other parameters," he said.

Ashwin will also have to face competition from Jadeja, a great containing option, and Kuldeep Yadav, an attacking Chinaman bowler, in the coming months away from home - the parameters Subramaniam was vaguely mentioning.

But Ashwin has a great example ahead of him. The legendary Anil Kumble too struggled initially to make an impact on foreign soil - 101 wickets from 30 Tests abroad till the 1999 tour to Australia. But the leg-spinner grabbed 168 wickets from 39 overseas Tests in the second stage of his career that began from the 2002 tour to England.

In Sri Lanka, Ashwin had begun his climb back from the abyss. And in Sri Lanka, he can embark on a trip to greatness. It's a defining road.

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