He might have played 94 Tests, 115 ODIs and 65 T20Is in his career so far but Ravichandran Ashwin continues to be a learner – always up to widen his arsenal and sharpen skills he has already mastered to outfox batters.
During the 2nd ODI between India and Australia in Indore, he left Marnus Labuschagne flummoxed with a variation of a carrom ball that cleaned up him.
In a video shared by BCCI, Ashwin explained how he focused on his lengths and variations in speed to keep the Australian batters thinking in a high-scoring run-chase after a rain break.
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“I wanted to keep the length perfectly, in terms of trying to keep it away from the batter and also change pace,” Ashwin said. “I felt they were not picking it off the hand that very well. So maybe that angle that I’m creating and the change of grip – I’m using my third finger to bowl the carrom ball and the off-break – maybe, hopefully, it will hold me in good stead.”
Ashwin said he has worked on different angles, experimented with different grips under the guidance of Sairaj Bahutule but it’s something that he should have done years ago.
“I worked a little bit with Sairaj at NCA. Working on different angles and slightly different grips. I asked him to watch from front and back, we worked on it for three-four days. For how much ever cricket I have played over the years, should have done this a long time ago. But I am doing it now at least. So I am glad,” Ashwin explained.
“It is something that I have been working on and wanting to do it, because when I go into this sort of a carrom ball, slider ball, the angles are pretty similar, the lines and the release points are very similar. So I wanted to bring both edges into play, which I was able to do. It has been in the offing for a while and I’m glad I was able to execute,” he added.
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