A 33rd five-wicket haul. Yet again, a terrific spell. Getting the breakthroughs at the start of the innings. Going past 700 international wickets. One could keep going on and on. Yes, it is against West Indies, who aren’t any better than the Duleep Trophy finalists in India at the moment and no match for the Australians. Yes the conditions were different compared to The Oval in early June. But what Ravi Ashwin proved yet again is what he brings to the table – quality and aura.
“Ashwin has a mental edge against some of the Australians,” said Gideon Haigh before the World Test Championship (WTC) final. “A third seamer will never have that impact against the Australian batters.” That’s where the Indians went wrong and badly. Ashwin is also about the mental impact he has on the batters. When you face the world’s best, there is always that extra edginess. That extra pressure. And as crafty as he is, he could have exploited the advantage. While none of us can ever definitively say what Ashwin could have done at The Oval, watching him in Dominica continuously raised the question about leaving him out. He is the best India has and that the world has seen in recent times, so to leave him out was to reduce your own strength. “Someone who has picked 700-plus international wickets and close to 500 wickets in the least number of Tests should be an automatic choice in every match,” said a senior cricketer who did not want to be named.
Pressure. Perhaps the most used word when it comes to sport. Everyone who has played sport will tell you there is always pressure. From fans, parent bodies, sponsors, family and, most importantly, from yourself. At the end of the day, a sportsperson is alone grappling with her or his own mind. A mind that is full of clutter and constantly fighting to be freed. Of all the thoughts that keep flooding in, of the possibilities that keep disturbing the equilibrium and finally all the hope and expectation of what can be. The possibilities, options and the potential going forward.
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Who wants it more? Who can keep calm? That’s where handling pressure becomes the key. And that’s where Ashwin has been fantastic. Be it the Sydney partnership with Hanuma Vihari in January 2021 where Ashwin, with a serious back spasm, saved India the Test match, or the World T20 game against Pakistan where he kept his calm to win the wide against Mohammad Nawaz off the second-last ball, Ashwin has always handled pressure well. Last night was yet one more example. With the WTC final experience silently looming in the background, Ashwin needed to be at his best. Maybe he wasn’t making a point. Maybe he was just doing what he does best – bowl. Maybe he was not even thinking about the WTC in his subconscious. But the five-for has indeed brought the reference back. The rhetoric is all about leaving him out and what impact it had on the game.
Handling pressure is not easy. But that’s what separates men from the boys. It all boils down to who wants to win that extra bit more. With Ashwin, what we will always get is competitiveness. Having known him for years, I remember a comment he once made. “If I die playing cricket I wouldn’t mind. I will do everything I can to play the game for India. That’s the only thing I have wanted to do. And I am fortunate that I have got the opportunity. You will always see me give more than my best. Yes I will fail. In sport you have to fail. But effort, that’s where you will see I will never back down. Give it my all. Results will come.”
The truth is he would have done the same at The Oval against Australia. Cloudy conditions or not. And who knows if he could have made a difference for India? Chances are he could have.
Education has always given Ashwin an edge over others and perhaps that’s one of the reasons he has been so sure about how he wants to lead his life and what will be his go-to philosophy.
Whatever be the case, suffice to say Ashwin still has a lot to contribute to Indian cricket. He still remains one of our best and a match-winner on his day. With age increasingly becoming irrelevant in sport thanks to sports science, Ashwin definitely has a few years left and no one knows that better. The comeback, if we may call it that, has been stellar for Ashwin and things can surely get better during the rest of the series. And each time they do, the WTC result could just keep coming back to haunt each one of us that bit more.
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