From ODI wilderness to a third World Cup

CHENNAI: Drafted as an injury replacement for Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, however, should be an automatic choice for the World Cup opener against Australia at Chepauk today on the basis of his impressive performances in the tune-up series against the five-time world champions. Returning to the 50-over format for the first time in 20 months, the wily off-spinner bamboozled the Australians with his guile and deception and used the carrom ball to good effect to move from ODI wilderness to a third World Cup. As the tweaker put it the other day, “life is full of surprises.”

“All you can do is turn the ball both ways, and I think I can do it. Dealing with pressure is paramount in these tournaments, and it will dictate how the tournament goes,” the 37-year-old told the official broadcasters during the first warm-up game.

Firm favourite India originally picked three left-arm spinners in wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav, Patel and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja to support a five-man pace attack spearheaded by Jasprit Bumrah and Md Siraj.

But with Ashwin surprisingly back in the mix, India possibly has the best spin combination in the competition, with Jadeja providing the hosts the option of playing three spinners in the XI, and a bowling attack for all occasions.

Ashwin’s experience clearly worked to his favour when it came to being chosen ahead of state-mate Washington Sundar as replacement. For one, he was part of the winning squad in the 2011 edition that India co-hosted, although he got few opportunities ahead of Harbhajan Singh.

In the 2015 edition co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, he took 13 wickets from eight games in India’s run to the semifinals.

He wasn’t selected for the previous edition held in England in 2019 after failing to hold a regular spot in ODIs after the 2017 Champions Trophy.

In fact, he has only featured in four ODIs over the last six years – two of them last month.

But with over 700 international wickets – of which 155 scalps came from 115 ODIs – Ashwin has been India’s go-to bowler in Test cricket especially in Indian conditions and for his franchises in the Indian Premier League. As India skipper Rohit Sharma put it, “Ashwin has got the class, he's got experience of playing the sport and handling the pressure. It's just that he hasn't played ODIs (for) a year or so.

“But you cannot take away the class and the experience that the individual has over the years, and in the last couple of games (against Australia), we saw how well he bowled. He's got a lot of variations up his sleeves.”

(The author is a senior sports writer based in the Nilgiris)