Ashwin and the “Bazball” challenge!
Ravichandran Ashwin is not someone who will shy away from a challenge and the “Bazball” approach from England will be making him restless to get going and grab some wickets.
Ravichandran Ashwin, has been a top performer for the Indian Cricket team in the spin bowling department and his game sense and understanding of match situations is second to none. He has the ability to read the batter’s mind and set them up for a wicket, which is not as easy as Ashwin makes it look. With his carrom ball and top spinners, he has stunned the batters and made them play all over the ball, resulting in their dismissal.
Ashwin’s overall record already places him with the greats of the game. He has 490 wickets in 95 Test matches at an average of 23.69 with 34 five-wicket hauls and 8 ten-wicket hauls. Staggering numbers to show his fantastic performances all throughout his career. In Indian conditions, Ashwin becomes even more lethal as he has 337 wickets in 55 Test matches with an average of 20.87. He is the bowler you wouldn’t want to face on a turning pitch in India. His consistency with his line and length and the variations in his bowling, keeps you guessing, and as a batter, you wouldn’t want to be in a situation where you don’t know which line to play. Ashwin can bowl with the new ball, and that makes him even more lethal in Indian conditions as he would be bowling his lethal off-spinners within the first half hour of the first session of day one.
“Bazball” has made a lot of noise since Brendon McCullum took over the responsibility of a coach of the England Test side under the leadership of Ben Stokes. The intent and approach of the English side has changed since then and they are looking more towards winning the game, making Test Cricket more result oriented. As if the match only has two results, win or lose, draw is never an option for them. In this “Bazball” approach, the batters look to play aggressively and take the attack to the bowling side, and believe in dictating terms rather than defending their way through tough periods of play. But R. Ashwin is not someone who will see this as a threat, for him it will be an opportunity to take more wickets and attack the batters even more to trap them in his spin web. He already has great numbers against the likes of Ben Stokes, Ben Duckett and Joe Root.
It would be really interesting to see how the English batters approach the R. Ashwin challenge on potential turning pitches and it would be even more interesting to see how Ashwin responds with his plans. As we said earlier, Ashwin doesn’t shy away from challenges and “Bazball” would be something he would be really looking forward to in the India vs England Test Series.
Originally published at https://reverse-scoop.ghost.io on January 24, 2024.
