Ravi Ashwin Back In Action As Kohli-Shastri Experiment Era Ends

Ravichandran Ashwin has a lot to say within his circle. He can be vociferous at team meetings because he loves to discuss things and dissect ideas. But he is best when he lets the cricket ball do the talking. Which is what he did in the first T20i when he starred with the white ball in a match-changing over taking out New Zealander’s Mark Chapman and getting the dangerous Glenn Philips to scotch the visitors’ hopes of a 170-plus total that could have challenged Team India. What Ashwin’s deeds with the ball have done since he was reluctantly brought into the side as an afterthought in the T20 World Cup after India had been virtually eliminated was to expose the prejudiced view of Virat Kohli towards off spin in general and against its leading proponent Ashwin in particular. Having decided that wrist spin was the answer to counter the big hitters in T20 cricket, the Kohli-Shastri duo had dumped Ashwin four years ago from white ball cricket and then simply refused to admit they could have been wrong even after the novelty of wrist spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav had worn off. It is a tribute to Ashwin that he never gave up on honing his white ball skills. It is his good fortune that Team India is making a fresh start with a new captain and coach.