How can you be the best bowler in the world (Ashwin is ranked No.1) but not be good enough to make it to the playing XI of your side for a major final?
92 matches, 474 wickets, a strike-rate of 51.8 at an economy of 2.76. Add 32 five-wicket innings hauls to the mix and it is pretty clear that these numbers don’t belong to an ordinary bowler; rather they belong to a bowler who devours opposition batting line-ups with a mix of old-school bowling smarts and variations that would be a good fit even in the shortest and most manic of formats.
R Ashwin likes to keep the batters guessing but as he woke up on Wednesday, the grey clouds must have told him — way before skipper Rohit Sharma could — that his game was over… even before it began. There was no need to guess.
At the toss, with a cold wind blowing across the ground and some heavy cloud cover, Sharma spoke about how difficult it was leave out Ashwin: “It is tough to leave Ashwin out. He has been a match-winner for us, it is not a great occasion to leave him out, but you have got to do what is best for the team in the given conditions.”
The question, though, is whether this is indeed best for the team. How can you be the best bowler in the world (Ashwin is ranked No.1 in ICC’s Test bowler rankings) but not be good enough to make it to the playing XI of your side for a major final?
It is a question Ashwin will have asked himself multiple times on his way to the ground; as he partnered Umesh Yadav for a warm-up lap around the ground just before the toss — what would it take… because clearly wickets don’t seem to be the answer.
One would imagine that having taken 474 wickets would have allowed Ashwin to understand what he needs to do in conditions when the ball isn’t turning like a top. Experience helps the batters, right? So why would it not be the same for bowlers?