- BOWLS HIS FULL QUOTA OF OVERS
Nowadays, experts and fans of the game have developed the common notion that once Ashwin bowls his full quota of overs in limited overs cricket, there isn’t anyone in this Indian team who can run through opposition batsmen. This opinion, though presented in good humour does portray a realistic view of India’s fragile bowling unit. In the recently concluded T20I series against South Africa, Ashwin picked up 4 wickets at an average of 12.5 in 2 matches. Despite his valiant act with the ball, the rest of the bowlers failed to replicate the same kind of effort which allowed the visitors to walk away with the series. Off late, Ashwin has been one of the fittest cricketers in the international circuit as he has hardly missed any fixture owing to injuries. His highly commendable level of fitness permits him to bowl his full quota of overs more often than not.
In fact, the offie admits his liking for bowling long spells. In an interview given to Cricket Country in September Ashwin said, ’’I love bowling long spells. I hate the fact that the ball is taken away from me at times’’.
In addition to that, he can open the bowling for his side, bowl during the middle stages of a crunch encounter and also bowl at the death if needed, like he did in the final of the ICC Champions Trophy 2013, where the contest was reduced to a 40 over match because of heavy showers. His 4 overs in T20Is or 10 overs in ODIs thus become very vital for Team India, more so if the others in the bowling department start performing miserably.
In a nutshell, it can be said that India’s dependence on Ashwin, the spearhead of their spin attack in 2015 is comparable with India’s heavy reliance on Tendulkar, the periphery of their batting line up in the early part of the 1990s.
