Ashwin’s value to the team has been immense that it was not for nothing that his captain Virat Kohli said that his contribution to the team’s success is more than 50 per cent.
It may be difficult for old-timers to accept Ravichandran Ashwin as the No. 1 off-spinner India has ever produced. His statistics reveal numbers that are far superior for the number of Tests he has played and the impact he has had on India’s progress as No. 1 Test nation.
Ashwin’s value to the team has been immense that it was not for nothing that his captain Virat Kohli said that his contribution to the team’s success is more than 50 per cent.
Old time greats will reluctantly concede that Ashwin is India’s best off-spinner ever “for the way he picks up his wickets, his control over the variety that he has up his sleeve.”
There are no such reservations for Ashwin’s senior until recently in the Tamil Nadu Ranji Trophy team, Lakshmipathi Balaji. Though he comes across as a serious, studious player on the field, for the retired India pacer, Ashwin is a happy-go-lucky guy in the dressing room cracking jokes and one who has great mental endurance.
“Ashwin is a mixture of everything in the dressing room,” Balaji told DNA. “He is a lot humorous. He can imitate a Goundamani (Tamil comedian of yesteryear) joke in a perfect manner. He keeps the dressing room alive with his sense of humour, with his liveliness.”
At the same time, Ashwin, who was elevated as Test vice-captain after the Mumbai Test in place of the injured Ajinkya Rahane, is a no-nonsense guy who means business when it comes to setting targets and achieving them. Balaji revealed: “What I remember of Ashwin is that he told me once, ‘you got the fastest 100 wickets for Tamil Nadu. I am going to break it’. Ashwin did break it, in Test cricket. I got 100 in 17 matches for TN. He got 100 Test wickets in 17 matches. That is the attitude he goes with. He always wants to be the best,” said Balaji, who retired from all forms of the game in September this year and has since taken over as the bowling consultant of the Tamil Nadu Ranji Trophy team.
The former right-arm speedster gave more insights into Ashwin’s inner mind. “We always knew he had great mental endurance. He will always take tough questions or situations as a challenge and answer them in his own way and will convince everyone. That is what Ashwin is all about. He is a go-getter, He always wants to be No. 1, not No. 2 or no. 3.
No wonder that Ashwin is No. 1 in Test bowlers’ and all-rounders’ rankings and is also making an impression with the bat as well.
Balaji, who played eight Tests and 27 ODI’s for India, went on: “Just like an Olympian raises his bar every time and will settle nothing less than a gold medal, Ashwin is always pushing his standards. Anything below, you don’t consider it as a performance. And, he surprises people with his phenomenal skill sets and intelligence.”
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 "Ravichandran Ashwin")
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