Is Ashwin a Test great?
Ravi Ashwin - from the perspective of an Aussie fan
As an Aussie fan, I feared Ashwin.
Most of the time, I am not a parochial cricket follower. I’m not like a football fan whose happiness is linked to their team’s results.
The big events are an exception though: world cups and the Ashes and, from the late 90s onwards, Tests against India, especially in India.
I love the Australia-India rivalry; I think it is becoming one of the best in world sport. And I really really want Australia to beat India in Tests in India.
And this is where Ravichandran Ashwin comes in: the crusher of my hopes.
It often starts promisingly. The openers play the quicks well, the score reaches about 0/40, hope starts to grow. Maybe this time it will be different!
And then the coverage returns from an ad break and there he is, like a stage villain.
Ashwin: ball in hand, at the top of his mark, adjusting the field, preparing to bowl. In he comes, with that idiosyncratic twitch just before delivering.
His first few balls are innocuous. And this is hardly surprising - the Aussie spinners got nothing out of this pitch, why should India’s?
But soon enough, bang! Ashwin gets one to bite and jerk; the commentators exclaim; the crowd roars.
Everything has changed.
In the coming overs Ashwin mixes speed and bounce, spins some sharply, sends others straight through, turns his carrom ball to the off, all with relentless accuracy.
He is deadly.
0/40 becomes all out for about 95. Ashwin takes a bag, including every one of our lefthanders - of whom we seem to have about nine!
He wasn’t alone of course. Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav, to name just two, have humbled Australia as well. But Ashwin has been a constant for over a decade, taking 75 wickets at 21.2 against Australia in India and helping India to win all three home series of his career: 2013, 2017 and 2023.
He was just as likely to cause some pain with the bat too.
Sometimes, strangely, I would forget he was still to come. We had them seven down; we were into the tail!
And then a man with the tightest hamstrings in the world would make his way gingerly to the crease.
Ahh! Ashwin again.
He batted the way lower order players with ability should - with total freedom and judicious aggression. In judging his overall worth as a Test player, his batting average of 26 is significant and qualifies him as an allrounder, not just a spinner.
So, time for some numbers. Where does Ashwin rate in the history of the game?
Let's begin with this comparison, with a player whose identity I will reveal shortly.
Who is the more valuable player? Clearly, it is Ashwin: a slightly better bowling average plus a better batting average.
Who is the mystery player? None other than Shane Keith Warne.
'But, but but . . . !' I can hear my fellow Australians exclaim. 'You can't be saying Ashwin is better than the King?!'
I am not making such a claim per se. I am just saying that Ashwin's record compares very favourably with a player acknowledged as one of the greatest in history.
One weakness that must be considered in judging Ashwin's career is his away record.
His home bowling average was a stunning 21.6; his away average a more modest 30.55.
By way of comparison though, Nathan Lyon’s career bowling average (home and away) currently sits at 30.45 - and Lyon’s literal nickname in Australia is the Goat: the greatest of all time!
The truth is Ashwin did quite well everywhere except Australia and South Africa. Collectively in Tests in these two countries he took 51 wickets at 44.0.
How about Warne? Well, he struggled in two places too: across India and West Indies he took 51 wickets at 42.0.
Almost identical!
I think that Ashwin’s away record is not sufficiently poor to demote him out of the top echelon; I do consider him an all-time Test great.
One last point: I first watched India in 1985 and my best ever India Test side since then is clear:
1. Gavaskar
2. Sehwag
3. Dravid
4. Tendulkar
5. Kohli
6. Pant
7. Jadeja
8. Kapil Dev
9. Ashwin
10. Shami
11. Bumrah
Having sent this side out on Twitter, I have had lots of people agreeing and many disagreeing. It is clear there are a great many Anil Kumble fans in India. And of course, omitting Dhoni is never popular - but that is a debate for another day!
Suffice it to say that Ravi Ashwin retires as one of the very best cricketers India has ever produced.
Maybe Australia finally have a chance to win in India now!