R Ashwin and the Changing Tides

If cricket were a game of stocks, the blue chips would be the spinners. They have been a pretty solid investment over the years and currently, across continents and cultures, they are throwing up quite outstanding returns.

A tall offspinner who bowls with a high-arm action, having the precious ability to operate at difficult stages of the innings and is studying to be an engineer, R Ashwin has some uncanny similarities with S Venkataraghavan, but for the moment the comparison should end there.

As Harsha Bhogle says the spinners are normally a very happy bunch of guys and you will rarely find them complaining about things. Unless of course one of them is called Robert Croft (the purists would scorn at his presence in this list!) for on a bright sunny day on a dusty wearing track he will complain about the length of the umpire's shoelaces! But that of course is history so let’s move on.

R. Ashwin's bag of tricks and the intelligence with which he mixed his deliveries stands out. For a man, having played just 9 ODI’s and who is yet to make his test debut - to be considered as one of the most potent bowling force in the country speaks for itself. India has never lacked the quantity of spin bowlers in its ranks. Almost every domestic side relies heavily on the exploits of their spinners. But it is the quality that counts when one gets to the highest level.

Ashwin may not be someone who you would call a classical off spinner but then again spin bowling is a matter of wits and the cricketing world is undergoing a massive transformation. The pace battery now waits for the ball to scruff up, for the shine to fade away so that they can come up and swing the ball the other way, while it is the spinners who have been entrusted with role of opening the bowling. Indeed, in Harsha Bhogle’s words, the cricketing equivalent of the el- nino.

It was Dipak Patel who first opened the bowling for New Zealand under Martin Crowe during the ’92 World Cup. Opening with spinners, although not an unknown phenomenon to the cricketing fraternity during the ‘90s, it was hardly employed on a regular basis till the turn of the millenium. With the advent of the T20 format, ironically, the effectiveness of spinners bowling with the new ball has certainly come to the fore. Already throwing the ball to a slow bowler in the Powerplays, once considered a surprise, a fad, is becoming normal. It is a strange game: the spinners are bowling the new ball and the quicks are waiting for the shine to go off a bit. It's all happening, Bill Lawry might say.

Already the teams are adapting. The mighty South Africans, they of the muscular hit-the-deck variety of bowling, played three spinners during the World Cup. In one of their games they had Johan Botha, Robin Peterson and Imran Tahir, plus Faf du Plessis, JP Duminy and Graeme Smith himself to turn to. Old warhorses must have spluttered into their Castles at the sight.

India, too have employed this strategy on more occasions than one. In fact, Ashwin may very well be viewed as a specialist opening bowler who can be aggressive and on the same time curtail the run flow. That he has got the stomach for big matches and is undaunted by reputation was amply visible during last two editions of IPL and the Champions League where he played a major role in the CSK triumph. Purists might mutter about a lack of loop and flight, but he is very much a product of his times where short boundaries, heavy bats and shorter forms afford little latitude to slow bowlers.

He is India’s answer to the wily Ajantha Mendis, the “death-overs” specialist Johan Botha and Saeed Ajmal, who arguably has the most well deceived doosra amongst the current fray of spin bowlers. Yes, Bhajji still remains India’s lead bowler in all the three formats of the game but R Ashwin is well on course on playing the perfect foil to the turbanator, pretty much like he himself did when playing with former Indian Captain Anil Kumble.

The Unforgettable Voyage

As the sun slowly begins to emanate its dominance, the weather is not the only thing that is in a state of unrest. As the mercury begins to take the upward climb, there is a little upsurge in our hearts, a small pestering feeling that continuously reminds us of our destiny which awaits us. The seeds of the inevitable departure were sown way back. But now, after all this while, they have sadly begun to blossom. All this while we have had three other batches face the same fate, on each occasion leaving us wondering whether the entire melodrama was far too overhyped or whether we were far too insensitive. But the wheel of time spares none and now we stand at the doors of a similar fate – hands tied – nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.

And now what with Aarohi over, it’s more like a premature end. The soul has gone; it’s just the outer body that remains. For those who have not been a part of it, it is and will always be just another college event, for us it has been the turning point. There has been nothing in these 4 years which can be compared to it when comes to attachment, bonding and fondness.

The journey in these 4 years has been similar to that of a river flowing with lots of fervour and gust at the source, meandering away in the plains and finally ending into a majestic bay ready for a much bigger journey ahead. Quite similar has been our case in these four years. Like the river flowing towards the ocean, all this while we have always aspired for ascendancy. It all started with a rush – lots of commotion – lots of pressure – lots of running to do pretty similar to what happens to rivers near their origin – fast, gusty. As time went on, other stuffs, studies for example, got a little more attention, with quite a number of people being “distracted” and eventually a few being left behind. And finally in our final year, where like the river that gains its entire might near its mouth, we gave all that we could to the best of our abilities with a small hope of going out with a bang.

Leaving all this behind makes us realise of what we can part with and what we can’t. Ten years down the line, we may not remember our classes or our professors but the time we spent together is something that we would never forget. Irrespective of whatever the final outcome may be, and wherever our destinies may lead us, I’m sure we would proudly be able to proclaim that our college life was the most beautiful flower in the lovely garden of life.